The Bet
by CatfaceNaschKatze
Summary: Natsu and Gray used to fight since early childhood. But was the reason for that constant fighting always the same? Makarov would know...
1. Chapter 1: I Win?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: though this story represents a kind of a love triangle, the main pairing still remains Natsu X Erza ;)**

**CAUTION: I might be slightly cruel to Gray in this story, but it doesn't mean I don't like him. I am pretty sure that Gray has some deep feeling for Erza, but I think he's too afraid to ever tell her about them.**

**Chapter 1: I… Win?**

"I… win?" Natsu said surprised as he stared at Gray lying on the floor near a large hole in the guild bar's wall. The ice mage was trying to stand up, but was failing miserably. His skin was burned in several places, and his abdomen, back and arms were bruised all over. However, Natsu was not in a better shape from what it looked like on the outside, though he at least stood on his two feet firmly.

"Tch… you wish, fireball!" Gray grunted holding onto the wall for support, finally showing signs of standing up. "I'm not done yet!" and he winced holding his side.

"Gray, please… That's enough… Look at your injuries!" Lucy shouted in concern, knowing that Gray would probably just ignore her. And he did.

"Oh? So you're still gonna fight?" Natsu said with a broad smile. "Good! It's been a while since I've been this fired up!"

"I… I can't lose…" Gray uttered with determination.

"Juvia can't watch!" the water mage covered her face with her hands.

"Just stop it you two!" Mirajane screamed almost crying. "This has gone far enough! The fact that Master and Erza are not around doesn't allow you to…"

"Here I come!" shouted Gray launching an attack on Natsu. "Ice-Make Lance!"

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" and Natsu's flames cut Grays lances in mid-flight. The ice fell to the ground and disappeared. "My turn, Gray!" the fire mage said ready for action. But his friend was no longer standing on his own two feet. Gray was kneeling and panting heavily. The ice mage understood that he could no longer put up much of a fight.

"_So I lose, huh?"_ he thought, but still managed one last spell, "Ice-Make Shield!"

"Juvia will protect Gray-sama!" and the water mage jumped in front of Gray.

"Juvia, don't!" the ice mage shouted.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Water Dome!" Juvia yelled with dtermination.

The guild was filled with bright light, everyone including Mira and Lucy had to cover their eyes with their hands and hold onto something in order not to be blown away by the massive amout of energy created by the three powerful mages' spells. Levy held onto Gajeel who didn't seem to be that much affected by the explosion, the same goes for Elfman. In a few seconds, however, the apocalypse ceased. As the steam wore off and the guild members were able to clear their eyesight they saw Gray lying on the ground with the coughing Juvia in his arms, and near them was Natsu also on the floor staring at the ceiling with a serious expression on his face.

"Juvia interfered," he spoke flatly, "you know what that means, Gray…" no 'popsicle' or other childishly offensive names this time. The Fire Dragon Slayer was dead serious.

The ice mage grunted, gritted his teeth and balled his fists. "Yeah," was the simple reply.

"_Oh, God! What's going on? I have never seen these two fight like that! It all started as usual, but ended like…"_ Lucy tried to hold back her tears looking at her wretched teammates, she even felt sorry for Juvia ending up in the middle of it all.

Suddenly Natsu jumped up to his feet and strolled towards the dark-haired ice mage, but Juvia was already on her two defending the boy she loved.

"Juvia will not let you hurt Gray-sama anymore, even if you call yourself his friend!" she spoke fiercely, but Natsu didn't even look at the water mage as he walked past her to his wounded teammate. "Wait! What are you…?" but she never had the need to ask the full question, as the whole guild gasped and then let out a huge sigh of relief seeing Natsu offer Gray his hand.

"Oi, get up already, popsicle," the pink-haired boy suggested in his usual friendly manner. "Don't tell me I just kicked your lights out," he teased to make his friend stand up.

"You wish, torch," Gray answered, though his tone didn't seem as light-hearted as Natsu's. The ice mage took his friend's hand and stood up on shaky legs, but soon steadied himself. And so the two stood facing each other, the entire guild fell silent and no one dared to utter a word.

"Gray," Natsu began seriously again, "you lost."

"Yeah… I know," was the sad answer.

"You know, if Juvia hadn't interfered, then maybe…"

"That's enough, Natsu," Gray cut the Fire Dragon Slayer short. "We both know how the fight would have ended. Juvia has nothing to do with it." The ice mage commented shortly, then gathered his clothes, for he stripped during the fight as usual, and made for the exit.

"Gray-sama, w-wait! Let Juvia help you treat your wounds!" the water mage hurried after the dark-haired mage.

Gray didn't show any signs of either objection or approval, and as Juvia caught up with him and the two were already near the threshold of the entrance to the guild bar they heard Natsu's voice again.

"It's not worth it, Gray."

And within seconds the ice mage's fist hit the fire mage's face. It was no hard punch, Natsu didn't fall or anything, nor did he even try to defend himself, but everyone in the guild were so quiet that the sound of knuckles connecting with cheekbone almost exploded in the air. Lucy, Mira and Levy covered their mouths with their palms, Cana and Bisca frowned, while the guys were relatively calm, because even if the fight between the two old rivals really did get out of hand it was still a male business and they had to settle it on their own.

"For you… maybe," Gray hissed and turned around to leave once again, adding only: "But it has always been worth it for me," and with that the ice-mage left without ever minding to turn around, Juvia following him.

After seeing Gray off the entire guild stared at Natsu, who was whipping blood from the corner of his mouth. He didn't look at anybody and no one could see his concerned eyes.

"_Now that I won… what should I do?"_


	2. Chapter 2: Piece of Mind

**Chapter 2: Piece of Mind**

"WHOA? What the hell is this?" Makarov shouted, eyes bulging out as he studied the mess the guild has been turned into while he was away. "Are you kids, completely out of your minds?" the old man yelled on top of his lungs, while most of the guild members laughed sheepishly and some others frowned, sitting at the few undamaged tables. "My old heart can't take this…" the guild master said somewhat dramatically and clutched his chest.

"Master!" Mirajane screamed concerned, rushing to the old mage with medicine in one hand and water in the other. She knelt before Makarov and gave him the pill. Gulping it all in one moment the guild master regained his senses and shouted once again.

"WHERE'S THAT BLOCKHEAD? I swear I'm not gonna go easy on him this time!" he didn't mean that of course and everyone in the guild knew it, but they could also read between the lines that Master will REALLY punish the Fire Dragon Slayer this time, and not just with cash.

"You mean Natsu?" Gajeel asked casually, already knowing the answer. "Who knows…" the mage shrugged, "He hasn't turned up since he beat the crap out of Gray yesterday," the Iron Dragon Slayer said looking at the mentioned ice mage with the corner of his eye, smirking.

"Gajeel! That's not nice!" Levy whispered, elbowing the brunette.

"What did you say?" Makarov asked surprised. "Natsu beat Gray?" and the old man looked at the ice mage, who sat silently at one of the tables, hair covering his eyes, bandages covering his body.

"Gray-sama…" Juvia, who was sitting beside the said mage, whispered in concern, eyeing him carefully. Lucy was sitting in front of Juvia. She said nothing but her eyes also betrayed her concern.

"Ho-ho, not just that," Gajeel tried to continue, "he almost…"

"Gajeel, stop it!" Levy cut him short.

"_I see…"_ Makarov thought to himself. "Gray, is this true?" the guild master enquired approaching the table where the ice mage sat. "Did Natsu really win?"

"_Win? Weren't we talking about a mere fight? That's a rather strong word coming out of Master's mouth… What's the big deal about all this?"_ Lucy wondered.

"Yeah, granps… It's finally over, and I lost," Gray said slowly as if for the hundredth time comprehending the meaning of the uttered words.

Makarov sighed and scratched his brow, _"I knew it… But still hoped it would turn out the other way around… Poor Gray."_

"If you excuse me…" Gray said standing up and leaving the bar, his face showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Alzack shouted from behind. "If Natsu isn't here to help us clean up the mess _you two_ caused, it doesn't mean you can just take off like that, injury or no injury!" But Gray wasn't even paying attention to what was being said, as he strolled out of the bar. "Why you! Stop right there, Gray!" Alzack shouted once again and was already about to chase after the ice mage, when Makarov stretched out his hand causing the boy to stop.

"Let him be, Alzack," Master said firmly watching one of his most promising 'children' leave the building.

"Juvia, what's wrong?" Lucy asked the water mage who was barely holding back her tears.

"Something's very wrong with Gray-sama…" the girl said in a trembling voice. "He's been acting very weird… Yesterday when Juvia treated his wounds, Gray-sama wouldn't even look at Juvia or object to anything, even when Juvia offered to show him a new bathing suit!"

"_And why would she do that?"_ Lucy sweatdropped. "Don't worry, Juvia!" the celestial mage tried to give her friend a reassuring smile. "Gray's gonna be just fine!" she winked at the blue-haired mage, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Hmph… I'm not quite sure about this," Makarov said in doubt, scratching his chin.

"Master!" Mirajane exclaimed indignantly. "You know what this is all about?" the entire guild fell silent eyeing the old mage with interest and anticipation. But Juvia and Lucy were the ones to perk their ears most attentively.

Makarov sighed heavily: "Yeah, I know what this is all about…" but in reality he thought _"Natsu really beat Gray… unbelievable. I know he is stronger than the latter, probably could give Erza a good kick in the butt too, but still… after all these years of just fooling around and slightly giving in each time, why did Natsu win? Did he really want to?"_

"A little enlightment, maybe?" Gajeel suggested in a more friendly tone this time.

But the old man just sighed again and shook his head. "Nope, I gave my word to those two that I won't tell about their little bet…"

"BET?" Juvia and Lucy simultaneously shouted.

"What did they bet for, Master?" Levy inquired.

Master started sweating all over, _"Oh, dear… it did escape my mouth now, didn't it…"_ and in order to avoid any further questioning the old man put on a goofy smile and started waving off, attempting a quick escape. "Ha-ha… those meetings are such a pain in the ass, I'm dead tired! Mira-chan, take care of things around here for a while, will you?" and with that he was off leaving the guild members in total confusion.

Mirajane pouted. "That Master…"

"But it's really interesting what did Natsu and Gray bet for. I mean I never knew there was a bet between them… and they're my teammates and all…" Lucy said in thought. "Do you guys know anything about it?" the blonde addressed the other guild members.

Most of them bowed their heads in thought, some on the contrary raised them and looked up as if the answer were written on the ceiling, only Mirajane shook her head with no reflecting. "I don't have a clue…"

"Come to think of it I've never heard them talk about something like that when they were little kids," Macao pondered.

"Me neither," Cana confessed.

"Juvia spends a lot of time near Gray-sama," the girl blushed slightly, deliberately avoiding the verb 'to stalk', "but he never said a word about anything like that…"

"So it's not just me…" Lucy was slightly relieved by that. "But I wonder what could this be all about?"

"Well, whatever it is it's got to be very important," Levy said seriously, "I mean did you see the look on Gray's face when he left?" Juvia almost winced at the memory.

"Hey, I know!" Lucy exclaimed, definitely proud of herself. "Let's ask Erza when she comes back!"

Everyone in the guild blinked several times, surprised that they didn't think of it first.

"Way to go Lu-chan!" Levy cheered. "Erza spends almost all her free time with those two, so there's no way in the world she didn't know!"

"_Yeah, and besides the three took shower together… How much closer can you possibly get_?" Lucy though to herself.

"Besides, even if Natsu and Gray didn't tell her, I'm sure Master did. I mean, she does accompany him to those meetings once in a while. There's no way in hell the old geezer didn't loosen his tongue on the subject," Macao added.

"Good, it's settled then. We'll ask Erza when she comes back," Mira concluded, "And now if you don't mind," she held up a bucket and a mop with that usual sweet smile of hers, "let's continue with the cleaning, shall we?"

"NATSU! NAAATSUUU!" Happy yelled into his friend's ear, which the latter never seemed to mind. Flushed and angry the cat sat near the pink-haired mage. It was the same spot where Gray once found Erza crying, and Natsu was sitting exactly where the scarlet-haired mage had sat back then. He was staring at the soothing flow of water, throwing marbles.

"_Sorry, Gray…"_ Natsu thought gritting his teeth, his fingers curling like claws into his palm.

"Natsu," Happy began quietly this time also staring at the surface of the water, "you came here because it's the place you made that bet?" the blue cat then looked at the Fire Dragon Slayer in concern. However no answer came. Happy got pretty pissed staring at his statue-like friend. "Oi, Natsu!" he yelled standing up again, pointing his little paw at the cause of his frustration. "Stop ignoring me like that! That's mean! And besides if you knew you'd be acting like this why did you win? Why didn't you leave it undecided like always?"

"I… I really don't know…" was the honest reply. "I'm sorry, pal," Natsu petted Happy on the head, forcing a smile. "It's just… ugh… I feel bad about Gray."

"Fell bad?"

Natsu nodded.

"But you _did_ want to win all these years! I know you!" Happy urged.

"I did," Natsu agreed, "but my reasoning was different back then, and now it's changed…" he muttered, staring at the sky with something relatively resembling a smile on his lips.

"Really? Since when?" Happy asked surprised. He didn't notice any significant changes until now.

"Since…" the fire mage was about to say something, then changed his mind and ruffled his hair in frustration. "Argh! It's not important." The Salamander stood up, put on his usual smile and looked at Happy. "Well, I guess it's pretty dumb to worry about it. What's done is done, it'll work out somehow I suppose. So why don't we go to the guild and help with the mess? Na, Happy, what d'you think?"

"Aye!" chirped the reassured blue cat.

"Good, let's race there then! Who loses cooks dinner!" and the pink-haired fire mage was already running way ahead without waiting for his flying friend.

"Whoa? Natsu, that's not fair!" Happy followed him.

Natsu was of course the one to win the race, but Happy was pretty close to victory too. Had Natsu not rushed off so quickly, he would have had to cook dinner. Not that he didn't like it, though. It's just that the fire mage needed something to distract himself from the whole Gray-bet-thing, and the Salamander knew nothing better than exercise, thus the race and the wish to help with the guild restoration.

"Ha-ha, Happy, I won!" the boy said grinning on entering the guild. "Guess who's cooking tonight!" he teasingly poked out his tongue at his friend.

But Happy didn't listen to what his friend was saying, but rather looked wide-eyed and a little uneasy at the sight before him. On seeing Natsu the entire guild stopped working and turned towards the pink-haired mage. Their faces weren't exactly angry, but they were annoyed alright. "Natsu…" the blue cat whispered, warning his friend who wasn't looking forward but rather back over his shoulder at Happy.

"Dragneel, huh?" Gajeel smirked. "It's about time His Majesty decided to show up…"

"Gaje…"

"Hush, Levy," Wakaba said firmly, "it's time to give our hot-head some piece of mind."

"_Yeah, but Gajeel is definitely the wrong person for that… He's as reckless as Natsu here!"_ Levy thought, but said nothing.

"Huh?" Natsu muttered. "What's up with you guys? You seem a little tense…"

"_Oh, God, Natsu, please don't say anything else…"_ Lucy worried.

"Tense you say?" Gajeel said more than asked, standing up from his chair. "Is that all you can see?"

"Well, come to think of it…" Natsu began reflecting upon the question, scratching his chin, paying no attention to the approaching danger.

"Iron Dragon's Club!"

"Huh?" was the only thing Natsu had the time to say. But strangely no pain came.

"Say, do I always have to save your fireball ass?" Gray asked blocking Gajeel's club with his Ice-Make Shield.

"Gray…" Natsu gasped, eyeing his bandaged teammate. _"I didn't know I went so hard on him… Damn." _He inwardly cursed.

"Move, ice mage," Gajeel threatened.

"Both of you stop it right now!" shouted Mirajane hurrying to the place of disaster. "What do you think you're doing, Gajeel?" she yelled, fists balled. "We're almost done repairing the guild and you want to ruin it again? Ruin the work of your nakama?" the female mage scolded.

"Tch…" the Iron Dragon Slayer gave up.

"Yeah, you tell him Mira!" Natsu cheered as if nothing had happened.

Immediately Mirajane's angry eyes shot up to meet Natsu's confused ones. It was moments like this that made Mira resemble Erza _very_ much in that _demonic_ sort of way everybody feared so much. "You are no better, Natsu!" the white-haired mage continued her scolding. "First you cause all this mess, which is natural for you, of course! And then you don't even show up to help! Is that how you treat your friends?" she then lowered her voice. "And besides, what you did to Gray yesterday…"

"That's enough, Mira!" Gray shouted. He was annoyed by all this. Everyone was treating him like he was a sad beaten puppy, which he _wasn't_! In any other circumstances Gray would have just sat back and enjoyed the show, but this time he was also involved, and neither Mira, nor anyone else here knew what was going on, so basically they had no right to judge! Makarov could scold them or punish them or just give up on the whole thing… He _had_ that right! Because he knew the deal. But Mira didn't and yet there she was, playing teacher artlessly imitating Erza. And that last part annoyed the ice mage most.

"No, it's not enough!" another female voice joined in.

"_Females…"_ Gray grunted, _"they just can't keep their thought to themselves, can they?"_

"I agree with Mira-chan!" that other voice was Lucy's of course. "We're nakama, right Natsu?" she addressed the boy cautiously. "But yesterday… yesterday…" the blonde's voice began to shake, "you fought Gray as if he were an enemy!" she blurted out, tears gathering in her eyes. "Bet or no bet!" she continued crying. "What can be so important that you hurt your friend like that?"

"Lucy, guys! You're a bit overreacting!" Happy waved his hands in concern standing in front of his dear friend. "Natsu didn't intend to hurt Gray that much! He just got carried away, that's all!"

"He's getting carried away too often lately," Wakaba said coldly.

"If we all got that carried away we would have had to restore the guild from a worse wreckage than after the Phantoms!" Alzack piped in.

"What's the big deal with you all?" Gray raised his voice. "You're talking as if Natsu hasn't done anything good for the guild at all!"

"He has. But does it make up for all the losses the guild has suffered because of him?" Jet asked rhetorically.

Gray's eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Have you people all gone mad?" he whispered in awe.

"Gray-sama shouldn't defend Natsu-san," Juvia cried out.

"Am I the only one around here who still remembers the meaning of the word 'nakama'?" the ice mage shouted in disbelief.

"It's ok, Gray. I heard them," was Natsu's plain reply.

"Natsu…"

"I guess I turned out to be a bad nakama after all," the boy smiled sadly.

"Natsu…" this time it was Happy.

"Happy…" Natsu's sad voice was heard, "would you please stay at Lucy's for a while until I find a new place to settle?"

"Huh? Y-you're leaving?" the cat cried in disbelief.

"What a drama queen!" Gajeel said annoyed, and earned a death glare from both Levy and Gray.

"What are you trying, torch?" Gray eyed Natsu suspiciously, only to see him… smile?

"It's no big deal, popsicle! Remember the deal? The bet is off if I leave the guild, right?"

"You wouldn't…"

Suddenly Natsu stretched out his hand, looking Gray straight in the eye.

"Let's just part as friends, ok?"

Natsu's eyes widened as Gray pushed his hand away frowning.

"Not ok, cause you're not leaving. If one of us has to leave, I'll leave!"

"Why does anybody have to leave at all?" Happy cried with teary eyes.

"Cut the act, Natsu," Wakaba said annoyed. The Salamander never acknowledged him, though.

"Well, guess we'll part like this then…" and with that the Fire Dragon Slayer started to walk off.

"Wait!" Gray cried, and then turned around to look at the other guild members. "Why are you just standing there? Why aren't you stopping him?" he demanded while Happy already tried to catch up with the pink-haired mage.

Lucy's heart just couldn't take it anymore. As much as she was mad at Natsu, as much as she didn't understand his reasoning, he still was a dear friend to her. She just couldn't watch him walk away like that!

"Natsu! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't really mean it! Please come back!" the girl cried running out of the guild building with Gray right behind her.

It was raining heavily on the street. Happy stood outside sobbing and calling after Natsu who was already out of sight. Gray hissed and slammed his fist into a nearby tree, while Lucy covered her mouth with her hands feeling totally miserable.

"Shit!" the ice mage growled. "I'll find him!" and he was already about to set off when a small paw tugged the hem of his pants. "Happy?"

"You can't find him on your own… You'll just get lost in the rain," the flying blue cat whispered. "We have to wait till Erza comes back!"

"Erza…?" Gray's eyes widened at the mentioning of Titania's name.

Happy nodded. "I know how you feel, and I know that even after Natsu left the gild you would still consider him the winner of the bet. But it's not important now!" Happy said almost pleadingly. "Please just forget about the whole deal! At least until we bring Natsu back! Please, Gray…" and the cat sobbed once again.

"_So Erza is also involved in that bet! I knew it!"_ Lucy thought seriously. _"That Natsu… I hope he'll be fine…"_

And so the three of them stood in the rain, looking at the road their mutual daredevil of a friend has probably taken, silently hoping that he'll be just fine, and that Erza will come back from her mission soon.

"_She's definitely not going to like this…"_ was the last of Lucy's thoughts before the trio went back into the guild building.


	3. Chapter 3: What You Call a Friend

**Chapter 3: What You Call a Friend**

Erza stood on one knee panting heavily, wearing her Heaven Wheel Armour. The fight appeared to take up more energy than the scarlet-haired mage predicted. _"Some weakling guild,"_ she inwardly growled recalling the description of the S-Class mission that Master Bob from the Blue Pegasus guild offered her to undertake right after the meeting to which the female mage accompanied Master Makarov. Back then Erza gladly accepted the offer, being unable to tolerate the drunken chatter of guild masters and their inappropriate comments as to her figure or appearance any longer, and the mission allowed her to set off two days before the meeting was over. But there was a catch… _"There's always some damn catch!"_ Erza inwardly grunted once again. The notice said that a newly founded dark guild has recently lost its leader and that the members were thus disoriented and vulnerable and therefore easy to take down. But what the employer didn't state (or didn't know) was that the old leader was overthrown by a new more powerful one. Those who still supported the previous leader were thrown out of the guild, while the rest (and that's most of them) stayed loyal to the new leader and were ready to protect him with their lives. _"Talk about dark guilds having nothing human about them…" _Erza mused to herself. Still, thinking couldn't solve much in this situation.

The scarlet-haired weapon mistress was surrounded by hostile mages, each ready for attack. They were no strong opponents whatsoever and the Titania would have dealt with them in a flash, but the thing is… this was already the ninth circle. _"Talk about nine circles of hell…"_ the girl pointed out ironically. Her head shot up instantly as a male mage launched an attack at her.

"Cleaving Vortex!" yelled a black-haired man with feathers on his arms.

"_Another wind magician! How many of them are there here? This is probably already the seventh I'm dealing with! Tch!"_

"Circle Sword!" Erza jumped up sending numerous blades at her enemies to stop them from group attack. "Blumenblatt!" and she cleaved the so called 'vortex', causing the mage who made it to fall in defeat.

"That's Titania…" one of the beaten mages muttered lying on the rock floor.

"She's unstoppable…" the other one said from a half-sitting position.

"_Nope, I'm not… But it's a good thing you guys have no clue as to how much magical energy I have spent. And besides, I'm running out of blades… Crap!" _but showing no signs of fatigue or even exhaustion she was feeling, Erza reequipped into her Morning Star Armour. "It's time to bring light to this god-forsaken place!" she exclaimed aiming her two swords up to blast the guild building into pieces.

This didn't happen though, as a thin sharp blade cut her abdomen, which was left vulnerable because she put up her arms earlier. Erza winced in pain and dropped one sword to cover the bleeding wound as she bent in half. A swift male figure with no hesitation urged another attack, this time cutting her right shoulder, then disappearing for a while only to stand on the ruins of his guild. He slowly clapped his hands.

"Bravo! Bravo! That's what is to be expected of the mighty Titania," he said and Erza looked up to study his appearance: the man was relatively tall with long dark-purple hair, green eyes and a cheeky grin on his face. The guy was dressed in black leather with a single sword hanging loosely at his side. Completing her observations, Erza immediately noticed how the beaten guild members started to cheer up. This could only mean one thing…

"Master Iyashii!" they cried almost simultaneously.

"_Shit! This is bad… Very bad!"_ Erza thought trying to stand up and managing it somehow, though only a blind person wouldn't have noticed her shaky legs. "Bastard!" the female mage growled. "Attacking me when I wasn't even watching!"

"That's no fault of mine, Erza the Titania, you shouldn't have let your guard down," he smirked and in an instant appeared right next to the scarlet-haired mage, whispering: "It was nice to meet you, Queen of Fairies. And now die!"

"_He's fast!"_ was the only thing she had the time to think.

"Earth-Make: Burial!"

"_What? So this guy's no swordsman-mage, but can also use Element Make Magic!"_ and with that thought Erza Scarlet was buried up to the neck in the ground. This somehow seemed to astonish Iyashii.

"Ho-o? So the Burial didn't fully work on you, I'm surprised," the male mage said calmly, studying his opponent. "I wonder if it would have worked on you at all if it hadn't been for that bunch of losers, who consider themselves my guild."

"_Talk about something human in dark guilds… I take my words back."_

"But it's really impressive, Titania," the sick bastard admired the mage in front of him, while she was completely unable to move anything but her head. Still Erza kept her composure. She didn't wince, she didn't pant; her eyes were firm, filled with fury. "Yes-yes! Quite passionate you are, aren't you, Erza-san?" the purple-haired mage knelt beside the girl and sniffed her hair.

"You're disgusting!" Erza spat, new waves of anger surging inside her.

Iyashii chuckled slightly then stood up and burst out laughing uncontrollably, holding onto his forehead. The wretched guild members got scared and Erza herself got pretty tense, thinking of a way to set herself free.

"I'm disgusting? A-ha-ha! Like I haven't heard that one before, Titania!" he threatened, eyes bulging out like a madman's. "It's time you meet you Maker, you rotten fairy whore!" and with that the mage swung his sword aiming for the girl's neck.

"…_rotten fairy whore…"_ those words echoed in Erza's head as a dark aura started to envelope her visible body.

"DIE, TITANIA!" he screamed, and then his eyes widened in shock and pain as Erza stood before him in her Purgatory Armour, her heavy sword stuck in his right forearm, having shattered the opponent's sword to pieces. The scarlet-haired mage was not even looking at her victim, her abdomen still bleeding, but less. Hair covered her eyes and she really looked like a demon to Iyashii, so he slowly started to back away from her, legs barely moving paralyzed with fear.

But only Erza knew that not only determination was hidden in those deep brown orbs shadowed with scarlet hair, but also fatigue. Erza could barely distinguish anything before herself, the last attack taking up all of her remaining powers. _"So this is it, huh? When that guy figures I'm worn out, I'm as good as dead…" _she thought quite calmly. _"Well, at least I didn't let the bastard get away with the last insult," _her thoughts trailed off trying to give her some hope. _"If I ever get out of here alive," _the girl smiled sadly at the improbability of it, _"I'll make sure Natsu and Gray pass S-class tests, so that I won't have to go on such missions alone." _And then it hit her! Erza's head snapped up full of determination as her vision reappeared, and she started to slowly approached the backing mage.

"You know," she began firmly, "all of your so-called weakling guild members had way too much faith in you," Erza started to reequip into her Normal Fighting Robes, "But they were wrong willing to die for you, and not just because you're a rare piece of scum," she spat full of anger, "no. But because their reasoning was wrong! A friend told me once," and Natsu's smiling and then teary face flashed before her eyes, "you don't die for your friends…"

"S-stop! D-don't come near me!" the mage shouted defending himself with bare arms. Pathetic.

"…you live for them!" and swinging her sword Erza brought the fight to an end.

Standing in the middle of the shattered guild with her head up bathing in the warm sunrays, the scarlet-haired girl smiled. "That's what you call true friendship."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"_I wonder what's taking Erza so long…"_ Master Makarov thought in concern, sipping his drink. _"Hope, she didn't end up getting hurt or worse… Argh! Stop being stupid, old man! The girl's strong as hell! She'll make it out safe, that's for sure! She still needs to rescue someone else…"_ the old mage eyed his 'children' and sighed. "It sure is quiet without Natsu around…" he said not very loudly, but the guys heard him alright. Mirajane was the first one to speak.

"I'm so sorry master," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I never meant for this to happen…"

"We didn't think that he would actually leave the guild," Wakaba said with guilt in his voice.

"You didn't think at all, did you now?" Gray snapped, and this time nobody argued.

"Master, are there any news about Erza?" Lucy asked shyly, but the old man only shook his head with a frown.

"Why would you need news?" a female voice was heard from the entrance of the guild. "Here I am in the flash!" the girl smiled.

"ERZA!" the entire guild shouted, with Lucy's and Happy's voices in the lead. Gray's face seemed to be glowing with either relief or anticipation one could hardly tell, and Makarov smiled at his 'hope' proudly.

"_That's my Erza!" _

"Erza, thank God you're finally back!" Lucy cried hugging her friend.

"Oww!" the girl winced in pain. "Watch it with the stomach, Ok? I have a pretty deep cut there…" and she showed the wound to the blonde.

Lucy immediately gasped. "Then you should go straight to the hospital!"

"I will, I will!" Erza smiled reassuringly. "I just wanted to see Natsu to thank him for… well, for being there when I needed him."

"Wait! You saw Natsu? How is he?" the celestial gate mage exclaimed with anticipation calmly believing that everything was already settled.

"Umm… he was fine… in my memory I mean," the weapon mistress uttered confused. "Is he not here?" she asked and Lucy averted her gaze. "On a mission or something?" again no answer, only sad gazes, sad faces, guilty eyes. "Ok, what's going on?"

"Natsu left the guild," Makarov stated plainly.

"What?" Erza almost laughed. "Is this some kind of a joke? Natsu would never leave Fairy Tail! He loves this place, it's his home!" the girl shouted in disbelief. And yet no one rose to confirm her words, and Lucy still looked away. "Lucy?" Erza's eyes widened. "Is this true?"

"Yeah, Erza, Natsu really left," was Gray's loud reply.

"And none of you tried to stop him?" Erza couldn't believe what was happening. The guild just lost a valuable member, maybe even more valuable than herself and no one did anything to prevent that from happening? What was wrong with these people? "Master?" she pleaded for support, none of this was making any sense.

"I wasn't around when that happened, and when I was told there was no trace of him left."

"Why…? Why didn't you stop him?" Erza demanded.

"Don't you wanna know what he did?" Gajeel suggested.

Erza's face darkened. "There is no such crime that can justify friends' betrayal," the girl hissed and the Iron Dragon Slayer shut up.

"He beat Gray to half death, you know," Loki informed.

"And ruined the guild. Again!" Wakaba said as an excuse.

"I see…" Erza whispered and jerked her hand free of Lucy's friendly hold, and in that swift second when the girls' eyes met the blonde could read so much contempt in Erza's brown ones, she wished she died right there. "Lucy, let go," and she limped towards Makarov.

"What are you up to, Erza?" Macao asked concerned.

"I'm going to bring Natsu back. Fairy Tail is his home, even if his 'sisters' and 'brothers' threw him out…" she said without looking at anybody, just under her feet.

"We didn't throw him out!" Levy shouted in defense "He left on his own! And we… and we…" she started to sob, "we're really sorry!" and the girl burst out crying.

"Sorry, you say?" Erza muttered slowly.

"Enough with the scolding already, Erza! We know we were wrong!" Alzack cried out.

"Scolding?" Erza looked at him surprised. "Did you say, SCOLDING?" she yelled. "Oh, I wasn't even beginning! But now you asked for it! Macao! Who brought you back to your son, when there was no hope left for your returning on your own? Mirajane! Who always cheered you up and helped with everything? Bisca! Alzack! Cana! Who prevented Jupiter from firing again and destroying everything, _you_ included? Gajeel! Who helped you fight Laxus? Lucy!" Erza paused. "Who brought you here in the first place? And Gray…" she approached the ice mage, looked him straight in the eye and he saw it all written there 'disappointment'. "…no. I don't really have to say it," and she limped away from him to the bar, where Makarov sat. "Master, I request a search and retrieve mission to find Natsu Dragneel and bring him back to Fairy Tail!" she exclaimed firmly, still clutching her side.

"I forbid!" was the answer that took Erza completely by surprise.

"Master!"

"Not with those injuries," he pointed to the girl's abdomen.

"I understand," she said calmly, hair shadowing her eyes, and started to limp away… to the stairs to the second floor.

"Erza!" Makarov threatened knowing what she was about to do. _"That's what I love about you! Your spirit!"_

Reaching the second floor, Erza Scarlet grabbed the first best S-class mission on the board. "I therefore inform that I'm taking up an S-class mission and will depart tomorrow."

Walking a little bit steadier, Erza reached the exit of the guild building.

"Whom are you going to help with that?" Makarov asked seriously, knowing that she won't listen and stay until her wounds are healed, but still wanting her to comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

"I'm going to help Natsu Dragneel," the girl answered without turning back to face Makarov, and left, never noticing the concerned pair of dark-blue eyes watching her every move.

**AN: so how did you like the story so far? I really want it to have more action, but not to worry ROMANCE is always the main objective ;) However I'll probably not be able to update soon… T_T but when I do I'll try my best to make it worth your time reading! =) Till then!**


	4. Chapter 4: Escape

**Chapter 4: Escape**

It was about 8 am when Makarov opened his eyes, yawned and sat up on the bed. The sun was shining brightly through the curtains, birds were chirping on the trees just outside the old man's window, but that did not change his gloomy mood._ 'Those three have actually done it this time…' _he thought concerned. _'Making an old man worry like that! Kids…' _The guild master then looked at a shelf by his bedside with evident determination in his eyes. _'I guess it's the right time to use this,' _the old man's gaze rested on a medium-sized green flask with some purplish liquid in it. There were no inscriptions on the container only a bright red bow on its neck. Makarow sighed: "Porlyusica is going to be so mad if she finds out…" and with that said the Fairy Tail guild master went to dress himself and get ready for another hard day.

x-x-x A few hours later x-x-x

"Master. So you want me to bring this to Erza's place and give it to her?" Mirajane asked eyeing the green flask in her hands with curiosity.

"Aa," Makarov nodded slowly.

"So what is it? Some sort of binding spell or something? I mean you do not really intend to let Erza go on that 'mission' she invented on the spot with those injuries, right Master?" she asked with a smile.

"Tch," Makarov frowned and looked away a little embarrassed.

"Master?" Mira didn't understand his reaction at first, but then gasped and covered her mouth with her palm. "Master, you wouldn't!"

The old man just sighed. "It'll be no good if I try to keep Erza by force. She'll escape anyway. I better help her."

"So this flask… this really is?" Mirajane asked in bewilderment.

"Aa," the guild master confirmed.

"But is this really Ok, master?" the white-haired mage doubted. "Porlyusica-san will be…"

"Just leave that to me," Makarov gave the female mage a reassuring smile. "Now hurry, Mira, before Erza leaves!" and in addition he thought: _'Cause I really doubt that she'll stop by the guild before starting off…' _and the guild master watched as Mirajane disappeared through the guild entrance. It was almost 11 am.

The water was hot and did well to Erza's aching body. The girl stood in the shower cabin with her face up to welcome the purifying stream. As steam filled the small space of the shower cabin Erza's thoughts were far-far away… _'My stomach still hurts… That will be a huge hindrance during the mission… Damn! Had Master allowed me go to retrieve Natsu with no objections I wouldn't have had to take up another task! That Iyashii… Shit, the cut's pretty deep… But still…'_ the girl lowered her head and opened her eyes allowing the water to flow along the smooth white skin of her back and legs_. 'Natsu… Why did you leave? What was so important that made you desert something you cherish most? And even Happy…'_

"Natsu…" she whispered his name gently this time. "I will definitely," the Queen of Fairies balled her fists, "bring you back!"

Mirajane was walking in the direction of Erza's apartment along the streets of Magnolia with the flask in hand. The sunrays were playing on the green surface of the container, people were smiling and enjoying the warmth of the day, only the usually cheerful and friendly female mage was obviously thinking about something serious – this reflected on her face. _'Does Master really think Erza's injuries are _that_ grave that he resorted to…'_ and she looked at the flask in her hand, before coming close to Erza's door. The girl raised her arm to knock.

Erza's head snapped up immediately as she heard a knock on the door. The scarlet-haired mage quickly reequipped, wincing a bit at the stinging sensation in her abdomen, and approached the front door. It was really quiet outside and inwardly Erza wondered who it might be. The female mage reached out her hand and turned the door knob only to see…

"Erza? Erza? Are you home?" Mirajane cried out cautiously stepping into the empty apartment. _'This is odd… No breakfast cooked, her bed is made, the door was unlocked… and… Oh my God! Her things are missing!' _and with that realization the white-haired mage rushed back to the guild bar to warn Master Makarov.

"Gray?" Erza shouted surprised, staring at the brunette in the dark hallway. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" the girl pointed to the clock on the wall showing 2 am.

"Well, I see you're all dressed up," the ice-mage commented simply, eyeing Erza from head to toe, which made the girl feel rather uneasy and annoyed. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Leave?" repeated Erza. She still needed a goodnight's sleep before setting off, so leaving at night was none of her plans. "Don't change the subject, Gray!" the scarlet-haired mage snapped out of her surprised state. "Why did you come to my apartment so late at night?" she eyed the ice-mage seriously, never letting him cross the threshold.

"Only to give you this," and with that the brunette stretched out his hand with a green flask in it.

Erza look changed from harsh back to surprised again: "What's this?"

"It's for your wound," Gray uttered looking away and slightly blushing, attempting a stand-offish look, but failing miserably as his eyes still tried to steal glances at the scarlet-haired mage.

Erza's gaze softened and she accepted the flask, standing a bit aside to let Gray in, which he did within seconds. "So what does it do and how do I take it?"

"It can heal any wound with just a few drops, so I suggest you drink some."

"Why the concern?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"A plain 'thank you' would have been enough," Gray said ironically.

"Gray!" the weapon mistress threatened.

'_I want you to feel better, Erza! How hard is that to understand?' _Gray thought, but said only: "I wanna help you find Natsu and bring him back," there was something so firm in his voice that made Erza see the ice-mage in a slightly new light. "I…" Gray averted his eyes once again, his look losing its determination and turning into something slightly sad. "Natsu left because of me, so it should have been me who ought to have scolded everyone like you did and run to search for him! But…" the boy gritted his teeth, "Happy asked me to wait for _you_…" he looked at Erza intently and she felt uneasy again. "I saw you with those injuries… but I knew you would never turn your back on…" Gray meant to say 'Natsu', but somehow the name stuck in his throat, so he just said, "…a friend."

Erza gave the ice-mage a friendly soothing smile. "So I guess stopping you is out of the question then?" she half-teased.

Gray smirked back. He always loved this about Erza. She could say very little but imply very much. "Same as stopping you," the boy replied. "Speaking of which, you should really drink the potion and pack. We have to take off as soon as possible. The old geezer might try to stop you…"

"Master?" Erza said in disbelief. "I'm sure he wouldn't…"

But Gray already cut the girl short. "I highly doubt it too, but Master cherishes you very much, he won't allow you to get hurt. We have to leave now to prevent the old geezer from locking you up in Fairy Tail. We need Natsu back! As soon as possible…"

"Aa," Erza confirmed with her usual small understanding smile. _'Natsu…'_ and the boy's smiling face flashed before her eyes.

x-x-x A few hours later (back at the guild) x-x-x

"Lucy-san! Lucy-san!" Juvia screamed rushing into the hall. On seeing the blonde she ran straight to her. "Lucy-san, have you seen Gray-sama?" the water mage asked concerned.

"Hi, there, Juvia," Lucy greeted stuttering a bit from being taken aback. "No, I haven't seen him, why?"

"Juvia went to Gray-sama's apartment to bring him breakfast, but Gray-sama wasn't there! Then Juvia went to the training grounds, but couldn't find Gray-sama there either! So Juvia came here, but Gray-sama isn't here! So where is he?" the blue-haired girl cried with teary eyes.

"I-I… don't…" but Lucy never got the chance to finish the sentence.

"Master! Master! Something terrible has happened!" Mirajane shouted running straight to where Makarov was sitting. The said mage saw the green flask in the girl's hands and his eyes grew wide.

'_Don't tell me she's…'_

"Master, Erza's gone!" Mirajane blurted out.

Makarov grunted, stood up and disappeared in a flash, leaving the other guild members totally flabbergasted and confused. He reappeared near Porlyusica's house in the woods and knocked on her door.

"Unless you're dying, go away, Makarov," the pink-haired mage stated plainly.

"Porlyusica, I need your help," the old mage said firmly.

"Judging from your voice you're not dying, so why test my hospitality?" the female spoke never casting an eye on her friend, mixing some potions.

"It's about Erza."

"Era who?"

"Erza Scarlet, the girl you made an artificial eye for!" Makarov's patience was wearing thin, but Porlyusica didn't like the sound of the old man's voice.

"You really think I remember all those humans?" she snorted.

"THIS IS IMPORTANT!" the mage finally yelled. "Erza is the strongest mage in fairy Tail so far, and she is planning to do something reckless, walking around and engaging in battles with a deep cut across her abdomen! Now I want you to tell me how far she could have gone with an injury like that, so I can find her and bring her back for treatment!" the old man said in one breath.

"Makarov…" Porlyusica eyed the guild master in surprise, "…you must be really out of it yelling at me in my own house!" the female threatened.

"Tch," Makarov turned to leave, "could have known you were of no help…" the old man was already about to shut the door behind him, when suddenly he heard Porlyusica speak.

"Do you know what potion I am making now, Makarov?"

The said mage simply raised an eyebrow saying nothing.

"I'm making the Iryo potion. Sound familiar?"

"B-but, that potion was supposed to be used only in extreme circumstances! You had only one for yourself and made one for me, in case I fall ill… Did something happen?"

"Old man, you sound as if you were concerned about me," Porlyusica mused. "You shouldn't' worry, though. I'm fine. But the one who stole my precious purple Iryo last night should!" she raised her voice.

'_Stole the potion… at night… But Erza couldn't have! She wouldn't! Then who?' _Makarov mused in thought. "If you think it was Erza…" the mage started his defense speech but was cut short.

"Makarov," Porlyusica began calmly, "my plants have withered…"

'_What does that have to do with anything,'_ the guild master thought annoyed. But the answer came shortly.

"…they only wither from cold."

Makarov's eyes widened for a brief moment, then shrunk back to normal and then Master finally closed them with a sigh, massaging his eyelids. "I see…" was the only thing he said, before thanking Porlyusica for the information and opening the door to leave.

"Makarov," the pink-haired mage said as if reminding the guild master about something.

He just sighed again. "Yeah, I'll make sure he makes up for it when they come back," Makarov said and then finally left for the guild thinking _'The poor bastard doesn't know Porlyusica's wrath… She can be scarier than Erza at times…'_

x-x-x One day before that just outside Magnolia x-x-x

A certain familiar Dragon Slayer was sitting on a high hill a long distance away from the town he considered his home and looked at it from above. Buildings, trees, streets, people… everything was so small and fragile, yet so peaceful and undisturbed. _'Come to think of it when I left it was raining and now it's sunny and warm. Everyone seems to be pretty happy. I shouldn't have stayed around outside Magnolia for so long, though… guess those strings attach stronger than I thought…'_ But in reality it was not the whole truth… Partly Natsu stayed around Magnolia for the last few days hoping to see a certain female mage return from her mission and make sure she was Ok, before finally parting with his dear guild… But the Dragon Slayer never had the chance to see her, and staying near his home was starting to get so unbearable, that he finally decided to take off to some other town.

Casting one final look at his hometown, Natsu stood up with a sad smile on his face. "Hope you guys will be ok." And with that the fire mage was off, a single female name replaying in his mind.


	5. Chapter 5: Enter Shikari

**Hi there guys! Sorry for the long delay in updating… I had my reasons, trust me… But there I am with Chapter 5! Hope you like it! Don't be mad at me because of the previous chapter, I mean the confusion and all that, but I just wanted to make it more visual, to make the reader change the images like slides or scenes in a movie. I have taken into account NXElove's advice about more inner thoughts and tried to fulfill it in this chap, but I think it won't be very satisfactory. I simply don't want to play the 'all-knowing' narrator, I'd rather like the text to be strewn with hints, suggestions, guesses, etc. That makes it more interesting to read, in my opinion =P + mind that this is an ADVETURE/Romance story. In a picture where two people are portrayed, the background is never really sufficient, but it is ALWAYS there and probably in even more detail than the figures themselves.**

**As always a HUGE thanks to those who read and review those meager thoughts I attempt to put on paper: NxE-Forever, KnightScales15, I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I, Jmnatsu, xchrispx510, zaiin17, Toaneo07 Ver2.0, dxcx, and NXElove.**

**Chapter 5: Enter Shikari**

Natsu was sitting at the bank of a river watching the fishing line of his self-made wooden rod slightly wagging with the calm flow of the river's current. It was a sunny day and Natsu inwardly mused that all days seemed to be sunny since he left Fairy Tail, it was a cruel and ironic realization that made a sad smile creep on the usually cheerful boy's face. He wasn't truly sad though, Natsu reckoned that the feeling he was experiencing now was a sort of disappointment, but moreover BOREDOM. Natsu was disappointed, because he thought that a least one or two guild members would go searching for him, try to convince him or at least persuade him to go back. He wondered what Erza thought about all this… He wondered if she was worried or not, if she was safely back from the mission at all! Natsu's concern for Erza never actually left his thoughts, although he was well aware of the fact that she was capable of standing up for herself more than anyone else, but still there was this constant urge, this stinging craving to protect her, to be sure she is ok. One look would have been enough to set his mind at ease, that's why he had wondered around Magnolia hiding like a sort of criminal from the rest of the people, but sadly the girl he wanted to protect so much never showed up. Natsu was hoping he simply missed her, he tried to convince himself of it even, but somehow he failed. Natsu took another long look at the fishing rod that never seemed to move. _'I miss Happy…'_ and it was oh so true. Within about two-three hours after his departure Natsu already regretted having given his flying blue friend the cold shoulder. The pink-haired Dragon Slayer inwardly laughed on remembering how fun it was to simply be around him, to tease him and watch him eat fish, fly or simply sleep. A couple of times Natsu considered going back, but two points there made him scratch that idea from his 'To Do List': first of all going back on his own would've been awkward, not that Natsu really cared, for he knew that at least Happy, Lucy and most of the other guild members would be glad. His self-esteem could live though that. But on the other hand, a man had to keep his word no matter what, and that was one of the strongest principles Natsu followed. The second point here was… the bet. Natsu clenched his fists and frowned. _'I can't go back now… I gave it all away to Gray. Ever since we made that stupid childhood bet, I never considered it seriously… My only objective was not to let Gray win, that's all! But then… Hah, it all changed…' _the fire mage raised his head as his wonderful green eyes followed a couple of butterflies, one of which was scarlet and the other emerald, _'my feelings have changed…' _the boy smiled amused at his own emotions. _'I _wanted_ to win!' _

The boy gritted his teeth and in that very moment a huge fish caught the bait and sprung out of the water with the hook in its mouth, splashing water on the shore, its scales glittering in the sun.

"Whoa! That's a good catch!" Natsu exclaimed as he gripped the fishing rod, starting the battle with the animal. It didn't last long though, for Natsu was a skilled fisher, but still it would have been quicker if Happy had been there. The thought made the fire mage a little sad again and he shook his head to make it go away. _'I'm not going home anytime soon, so I better stop thinking of those things… And besides maybe Happy will escape from Lucy and find me on his own! That'd be great!' _

That was one of the reasons why Natsu chose to stay for a while in the neighbouring town to Magnolia that lay on its southern boarders. It was a small town with moderate prices for everything, but Natsu never minded to remember its name, although it seemed to be also a sort of flower… Lily? Lavender? Well, something like that. It was unimportant since the boy never planned on staying there for long! He thought that pretty soon Happy would find him and they both would set off to some place… Or… maybe, just maybe the guild will send someone to look for him, and again maybe that someone will be Erza, so that he'll be able to see her one last time. It was strange though… he had spent so many years beside her, and now when he finally wanted to win, when he won! he had to let go of the one other thing apart from finding Igneel that he wanted now so badly. _'Still, I know how Gray feels…'_ the Fire Dragon Slayer thought, a serious expression on his face, _'I was the one who set that bet only to tease him. I held back all these years, while he really craved for the victory. It wouldn't be fair if I ruined it like that… Ruined both his feelings and our friendship.'_ Natsu knew he couldn't allow it, and being the unselfish person he was, the lad decided to punish himself for misunderstanding Gray and his feelings. So there he was, Natsu Dragneel in the flash, fishing alone for he had only enough money on him to pay for a small room at the inn. Yep, money was the problem, still the Fire Dragon Slayer refrained from searching for other guilds, as he still was very strongly attached to Fairy Tail and just couldn't bring himself to think of working for any other guilds. Some famous Dragon Slayer, eh?

Still as always Natsu was pretty hungry, so the Fire Dragon Slayer put his hands on the huge fish and roasted it with his flames, when suddenly…

"Wow! You're a fire mage?" a small girl of about eleven exclaimed eyeing the pink-haired boy from behind the tree somewhat shyly.

"Huh? Who are you?" Natsu inquired, chewing on a large piece of fish meat.

**x-x-x Meanwhile on the way to Lotus Town x-x-x**

"Erza, do you mind telling me why you still hadn't taken that freaking potion?" Gray asked irritated at the fact that his scarlet-haired companion had refused to drink the potion as he asked her for the fourth time that day.

"I have no need for it now," the girl stated simply never slowing her pace.

"Erza," the ice-mage growled, which made the addressed female mage stop to glare at her companion.

"What happened between you and Natsu while I was away?" the scarlet-haired weapon mistress asked, not really out of the blue, eyeing Gray suspiciously.

"You're changing the subject," the boy commented plainly.

"That I am," Erza confessed.

"Will you take the potion if I tell you?" Gray tried a deal.

"If you tell me, I won't sent you back to Fairy Tail," was the brief reply.

"I won't go willingly, you know that. And you mean to say that in that condition," the ice-mage pointed at the girl's abdomen, "you could fight me?" he doubted. "Not a chance, Erza."

He shouldn't have said that though. For within seconds the ice-mage was already pinned to a tree with a sword at his throat. "Gray," Erza whispered almost tenderly, "don't think that my being wounded means I can't stand up for myself or fight well. And now I repeat my question: why did Natsu _really_ leave?" Erza could tell that it couldn't have been just over some petty offence at being scolded for the 'destruction' of the guild, she had a hunch, call it female intuition or whatever, that there was something deeper to it than that. And Gray's appearing at her door in the middle of the night and claiming that it was his fault left her no doubts. "Tell me what you know," she asked taking the sword away, and changing her severe gaze to a milder one.

'_Could she possibly know anything about the bet?'_ Gray thought in terror. _'No… I guess not. Otherwise she would've killed me already. Natsu…' _he frowned,_ "it's always about Natsu!" _the brunette gritted his teeth. "That I can't tell you, Erza," and before the Titania could protest or threaten, he added, "I swore… we swore to never tell. It's something between him and me…" _'and you'_ Gray inwardly added.

"Men," Erza huffed and crossed her arms, but from that jerk a sting of pain pinched her abdomen and she winced.

"Erza, just take the potion, please!" Gray asked stepping forward to his teammate.

"It's not the right time yet. We will need it during the mission," Erza said, but there was more to it than that. She felt she had to overcome her pain to become stronger, strong enough to find Natsu and bring him back.

"The mission?" the ice-mage asked in disbelief at Erza's intention to actually fulfill the S-rank mission she took up as a cover-up for finding Natsu.

"Aa," the girl nodded, resuming their walk.

As the two of them walked through the forest to Lotus Town Erza told Gray about the mission and her overall plan of combining the two activities most fruitfully. It appeared that the mission itself was about to be fulfilled in a far away town of Alred, where a gang of three dark mages were reported to be operating at the moment the order was posted. But the client wanted to meet up with whoever took the mission in order to explain everything in more detail, and he lived in Lotus Town, just outside Magnolia. Erza considered this most fortunate, for Natsu could have passed through that town and someone might have seen him and tell where he went. So the plan was like this: Erza was to meet the client and talk about the details of the mission, and Gray meanwhile was to ask locals about Natsu.

"Lotus Town lies on the southern border of Magnolia, and the way to Alred goes across the northern border, so we will be able to cover a large territory, and if we are lucky we'll find trace of Natsu in no time!" Erza gave her companion a reassuring smile, but he just averted his gaze and smiled sadly. The girl was confused by the boy's reaction, but let it go for now.

The rest of the way both were relatively silent, each absorbed in his own thoughts. Erza for example thought that the probability of Natsu passing through the same town as she was assigned by the mission, was quite low, but the girl was ready to take any straw if it meant finding out at least something about her dear friend. She would be at least a little at ease knowing that he was safe and sound… That wasn't much to ask now, was it? _'Sheesh, who am I worriyng about? The guy's strong! Really strong!'_ but still Erza, the Titania couldn't help herself wondering to where he is now. _'I hope you're not alone…'_

**x-x-x Back at the river bank x-x-x**

"Um… I-I… well…" the girl stuttered blushing a little in an awkward attempt to say something.

"What was that? Speak up, I can't hear you," Natsu said approaching the spot where the girl stood. And there he heard it alright… a sound you can never mistake with anything else. Natsu laughed, "Well, I can tell you're hungry!" the girl gasped and blushed even more in response. "Don't be shy, come sit with me. I've caught a huge fish, I can't possibly eat it on my own," he grinned to the unexpected visitor, lying quite shamelessly about his eating habits. But the girl responded with a grateful smile and timidly strolled towards the pink-haired mage.

On her entering to the shore from the shadowy forest Natsu noted that the girl really was about eleven years old. She had short green curly hair and rather big brown eyes that made her resemble Erza a little. The girl was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt and purple shorts, and on her feet she wore black sandals.

"So what's your name?" Natsu asked in a friendly tone as the two of them sat beside each other gulping down the food, surprisingly the girl also didn't chew much, but dug into the offered meal with quite a lot of zeal.

"Mphu nemph is Shikari!" the girl said cheerfully gulping down a mouthful and wiping her moth with the back of her hand, a rather 'ungirly' gesture.

"Shikari?"

"Um!" the girl nodded with a smile. "I'm sorry I was so rude and didn't even introduce myself, but I was so fascinated by your beautiful magic, that all words simply escaped my mind!" Shikari said looking at Natsu with glowing eyes, while the boy just laughed sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "You shouldn't be so shy… Oh my God! I'm so-so sorry, I didn't even ask your name!"

"Natsu's my name," the Fire Dragon Slayer said in a friendly tone.

Shilari's eyes grew wide. "Don't tell me you're THE Natus Dragneel of Fairy Tail…" the girl gaped at the pink-haired boy beside her.

"Huh? Why shouldn't I?" Natsu scratched his chin. "It is me after all," he winked.

"This is so cool…" Shikari whispered in total amazement.

As the two talked Natsu found out that Shikari was also a mage. Although she was just starting to master the water magic, a recently found guild called Purple Lotus agreed to take her in. It was situated just outside Lotus Town. _'Lotus! I knew it!'_ Natsu thought, proud at his lucky guess. As Shikari described it the guild was one as friendly as Fairy Tail, although most of the mages were relatively weak, but they took up missions with small rewards and low risks and on the money earned tried to develop their guild and their own magical abilities.

"I always dreamt of joining Fairy Tail," the little girl confessed staring at the water, "but I knew I was too weak for that… But it's ok now! The people at Purple Lotus are really nice! And I _did _meet the legendary Salamander of Fairy Tail!" Shilari giggled as she saw Natsu blush a bit. He didn't really know how to accept compliments. "I only wish I could also meet Erza, the Titania," the green-haired girl said in thought.

'_You're not the only one,'_ Natsu mused staring at the surface of the river.

"Still people say she's scary…" Shilari shuddered a little.

"Yep, that she is," Natsu admitted. "But she's not like that all the time. For the most part she's quite… kind and, well… friendly. You'd like her," the boy assured.

"Really?" Shikari blinked. "You seem to know Erza-sama quite well, Natsu-san," the water mage mused. "Is she your friend?"

"Aa," the Fire Dragon Slayer nodded.

"So why isn't she here with you? Are you on a solo mission?"

Natsu frowned. "Yeah, something like that…"

"It must be very sad to be all alone, ne, Natsu-san?" Shilari asked rhetorically, staring at the already settling sun. He didn't respond. Well, you don't actually respond to rhetorical questions now, do you? "Hey, I know!" the girl exclaimed jumping to her feet, some idea glowing in her eyes. "Natsu-san, if you ever get lonely on a mission and pass by our guild, do come in and ask for me! I'll keep you company!" the girl cried joyfully, while Natsu smiled. But the moment was soon ruined, when a familiar sound cut through the silence. "Natsu-san," Shikari laughed, "I guess that fish was not enough for you. Here, I'll help you to some more! Water-Make: Net!" and with that spell half of the fish in the net range jumped by itself onto the shore.

"Whoa! Now that's what I call useful magic!" Natsu exclaimed energetically. "Alright! Let's cook some supper! I'm all fired-up!" Shikari only giggled to that.

In a few hours as they ate, well mostly Natsu ate, fish and talked some nonsense, it already turned quite dark and stars were starting to appear in the night sky.

"Thank you for the meal, Natsu-san, but I'd better get going," Shikari said standing up.

"I'll walk you to the guild," the Fire Dragon Slayer suggested standing up as well.

"That would be very nice, but I have to refuse," the girl gave her new friend a sweet smile, "I still have to stop by at some place… mission concerning…" she almost whispered the last part into Natsu's ear.

"Oh, but are you sure you're gonna be ok?" the boy asked concerned.

"Um," the girl nodded cheerfully starting to walk off, "And if you'd like to find out for sure, just stop by my guild sometime!" she winked at the legendary Salamander, waving off.

Natsu also smiled waving back with a grin. "Take care, Shikari!" It was only when the girl was completely out of sight that the pink-haired mage started off for his little cheap inn room. The walk was not long, and took up about fifteen minutes. Natsu was in a cheerful mood and all his daily sorrows seemed to have disappeared somewhere in the depth of his soul. For now Natsu Dragneel was smiling as he walked along the dimly-lit streets of Lotus Town with his hands behind his back. When the boy almost reached his inn, he caught a glimpse of familiar red hair disappearing round the corner and immediately his heart was beating somewhere in his throat. _'It can't be…'_ the boy thought rushing after the familiar vision. Turning round the corner he saw… her. There she was, Erza the Titania, standing in about a hundred meters before him, looking from left to right, and stomping her right foot impatiently. _'She really came… Erza came after me…'_ Natsu smiled to himself and was already about to rush to his fearsome teammate shouting her name, but halted immediately as he saw Gray casually approach her. The two started exchanging some words none of which was in Natsu's earshot, not that he wanted to hear them anyway. _'Well, at least now I know you're alright,' _the Salamander thought looking at Erza, trying to remember everything about her, _'Guess I can really set off now…'_ the boy then looked at Gray and frowned, but then sighed. _'I'm happy for ya, pal. Good bye, Gray. Good bye, Erza.'_

"Huh?" Erza's head snapped up and turned in the direction where just a second ago Natsu was standing, her eyes searched for something there, bearing a concerned expression in them.

"Erza, what's wrong?" Gray asked looking where his companion was.

"Didn't you just… I thought I heard…" she whispered barely audible, never taking her eyes off the previous spot.

"Hear what?" the boy asked confused.

But Erza just stood there, hair being blown straight into her face. _'Natsu… was that… you?' _but said only: "I guess I was just imagining things… Let's go inside," she suggested, taking a final glance at the place she thought she heard Natsu's voice come from, before entering the inn.


	6. Chapter 6: The Mission

**Hi, guys! Sorry for the long pause, but here I am back again with a fresh chapter =) Don't worry I'm not one of those who abandon stories, besides I have it all mapped out already ;) The problem is I have little time to put my thoughts on electronic paper, because of my studies this time. So it'll probably take me a month to finish this story. Till then =)**

**Chapter 6: The Mission**

Two figures stood turning their backs to each other on the ruins of an ancient temple. It was early morning and faint rays of sun forced their way through the shattered ceiling, which in some places still remained intact.

"So what happened to Iyashii?" a female voice was heard to utter from the darkness. One could not see the female's face, but her long silver hair seemed to shine through the shadows.

"He was defeated," a male voice stated plainly.

"Tch," the female grunted, "always knew he was a weakling. Did he at least fill his container?"

"I'm afraid that the failed at that too."

"Taku," the female sighed. "Why did we even let him join?" she asked rhetorically, irritation evident in her voice.

"Don't worry, Cho, I still have plenty of magic to gather."

"Ho-o!" the silver-haired mage smiled mischievously, turning to her companion, who didn't turn around to face her in turn, "you mean your little guild? I was wondering when you'll cut the act of pretending to be the kind, understanding guild master."

"You allow yourself to question my methods?" the male flashed her a glare, and as his sapphire eyes glittered dangerously, Cho held her breath in awe and admiration.

"Sumimasen, Kiken-sama," she bowed, "I wouldn't dare," she stepped back a little.

The blue-eyed mage nodded and turned to leave, his long black cape billowing behind him, with a flash of sun-light caught in his golden hair.

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Erza was shown into a bright spacious study with French windows and expensive curtains. There was also a thick white bear fur in the middle of the long wooden floor, something that Erza enormously loathed. The only piece of furniture was straight across the room, unsurprisingly it was a wooden desk with an expensive armchair beside it. The armchair was empty, or seemed to be empty. From that distance Erza wasn't sure. The extravagance of the whole manor seemed to mock the humble conditions in which all the citizens of Lotus Town lived, and that made Erza fell angry and bitter for them, still she kept her composure and stayed alert, but her thoughts subconsciously travelled to a particular pink-haired mage. _'I wonder what I heard yesterday… or rather… felt? I'm sure I did feel something… Could it have been Natsu? If it were him, then Gray could find him today even! Or perhaps he's already found him! That would be a relief…' _the scarlet-haired mage couldn't finish her thought as a door, disguised as a full-size portrait of some beautiful aristocrat woman, opened, revealing… a short, plump man in a tuxedo. He didn't say anything or even look at Erza at first, only walked towards the writing table and literally climbed onto the armchair. Erza raised an eyebrow and chuckled inwardly at the sudden idea of Natsu watching this act. _'He would have died of laughter,'_ the girl's inner voice commented, while huffing and puffing the client regained his composure, cleared his throat (rather loudly) and eyed Erza from head to toe with narrow eyes. It was that look that made Erza completely sure of what she already suspected on first seeing the short man, this guy… was definitely a creep. His narrow black eyes, his short black hair and even his black tuxedo, it all contributed to the general picture: a greedy little dwarf.

"Miss Scarlet, I presume?" he said rummaging through some papers on his desk. Erza nodded in response. "Good. I'm glad you came so early, since this is really a grave matter!" the runt said with such a serious expression on his face that made him look even funnier. Erza held back a smile. "My name is Alexander Black I own a large transporting company, which specializes in transporting important mage clients to whatever their destination," he said having finally found the document he was looking for, Erza's eyes widened and she gritted her teeth on seeing that it was her personal file. The dwarf looked through the file briefly nodding from time to time, while the Queen of Fairies was getting more and more impatient.

"Mr. Black, can we get straight down to business?" though the utterance was planned like a question it didn't one bit sound like it.

The dwarf nodded gravely: "Sure thing, sure thing. I'm a busy man myself."

'_A greedy man you wanted to say,' _Erza inwardly corrected.

"The situation is like this, Titania-san," Erza winced a bit from her nickname being uttered from such disgusting lips. "My travelling business is at risk of total bankruptcy at present. I deal with only on land transportation and my former mage clients won't travel by carriages or by trains anymore, because they are under constant attacks," he paused creating what he thought was a dramatic effect, but to Erza it was a mere waste of time. "These attacks are cause by 'The three Siblings'."

"Three Siblings?" Erza repeated.

Alexander nodded and putting Erza's file aside, opened the top drawer of his writing table and took out a black folder with some papers and photos in it. He took out one photo and handed it to Erza. The girl took the picture and couldn't understand what the greedy dwarf meant with it. She looked at the picture quizzically while Alexander jumped from the armchair and stood facing the window with his back towards the scarlet-haired mage. The photo showed a tall fit male of about twenty years, who was wearing a black tuxedo, but was smiling rather than frowning.

"Why are you showing this picture to me?" the girl raised an eyebrow.

Alexander turned his head and in the sunlight tears seemed to glitter in his eyes. Erza gave him a puzzled look. The man then told the mighty Titania the real cause of his request. It was actually him in the the picture and not some twenty or thirty years ago, but actually he looked like that several month ago, when his business was prospering and he himself was to be married with a wealthy heiress, whom he claimed to have adored not because of her parents' money, but because of her kindness and beauty. Which Erza considered to be rather doubtful. But it all fell apart when he was escorting several mages during their travel and "The Three Siblings" attacked their carriage. As Alexander recalled, they seemed to have sucked out their magical powers to a sort of silver container, and as Alexander had none, their spell had this – and he traced the lines of his new hideous body – effect on him.

"Of course, Julia would never look at such a dwarf like myself again," he said looking at the full-size portrait, with a door hidden in it. "Then it all fell like a card house: mages felt more secure when they travelled on foot, that made them more alert and ready for combat, so my business declined; no doctor could help me return to my normal state, no matter how much I paid them. My only solution was to post a request to magic guilds, but all were scared, because of the abilities of the Siblings," he looked at Erza quizzically.

As if reading the client's thoughts the girl answered: "Once I have taken up a mission I never back down until it is completed," she assured.

"So I thought," Alexander nodded approvingly again.

"I suppose you wouldn't have posted that request if it had no connection with your corporal state," Erza suggested in a business-like manner. She really wanted to get this conversation over with and be able to help Gray search for Natsu.

"I wouldn't have expected less from Erza, the Titania," he smiled, "Yes, you are quite right. The mission I am assigning and so generously paying for includes the elimination of 'The Three Siblings' and taking over their silver containers."

"What is there in those containers?"

"Magic. Magic of all those who are suffering with low abilities now. And most importantly my youth. You see one of the mage healers who couldn't help me asked about the container and by its description judged that it was a sort of vessel to contain magical powers and my youth."

"So it means that those three are gathering magical powers… But what for?"

Alexander simply shook his head. "That I do not know."

"I see," Erza stated plainly. "Is there any more information I should be aware of?" the female mage asked indicating she was about to take her leave.

"Yes, there is," Alexander said and once again climbing onto the armchair took out another photo from the folder and handed it to Erza. "I paid a great sum of money for this one. 'The Three Siblings' are depicted here."

Erza's eyes widened in disbelief. "It can't be!"

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Gray was walking along the streets of Lotus Town with Natsu's picture in his hand. Well, it wasn't actually solely Natsu's picture, since Gray himself, Lucy, Happy and Erza were depicted there beside the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. Natsu was looking straight before himself and grinning widely, and Erza… she was looking at him from the corner of her eye with a small genuine smile, the one Gray saw so rarely.

'_What's your deal with this bet, anyway, Natsu?'_

'_Don't get the wrong idea, Gray. It's not like I'm interested in winning myself, I'm just not interested in your winning either.'_

Their childhood conversation flashed in the ice-mages memory and he frowned. _'What could have changed? Did he actually become interested in winning?' _Gray thought as he asked another elderly woman if she had seen this man, showing Natsu on the picture.

'_The deal will be cancelled on one condition then.'_

'_Huh, what condition?'_

'_If I win but leave the guild, everything will be cancelled.'_

'_Whoa! But you will NEVER leave the guild, torch!'_

'_My point exactly, popsicle!' Natsu said grinning and poking out his tongue at Gray._

"You did leave, though," Gray mused out loud approaching a small cheap inn. "Why would you do that? Why would you win and leave, Natsu?"

"Natsu you say…?" an elderly man smoking a pipe said eyeing Gray with a friendly smile.

"Huh?" the ice mage was caught off-guard. "Erm… yes. I'm looking for a young man called Natsu, have you seen him?" the brunette asked, showing the picture to the gray-haired man.

"Yes, he stayed at this inn for a couple of days, but I'm afraid you missed him," the old man said giving the picture back to Gray. "He left yesterday in the evening in a rather sulky mood I might say."

"Where did he leave to?" Gray asked urgently.

"Somewhere to the East I suppose…" the old man answered pointing his pipe in that direction.

"Thank you!" Gray yelled waving off, already rushing to the inn where he and Erza were staying, hoping that she had already returned from the meeting with the client. _'Natsu is close! So close! Hurry, Erza!'_

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"Natsu-san! Na-a-atsu-sa-a-an!" a familiar voice called from the shadows of the forest, and made the said pink-haired mage stop and turn around.

"Oi, hey there, Shikari!" he called back, waving at her with a smile on his face, waiting for the girl to catch up with him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same!" Shikari pouted. "There's no way a powerful mage like you would be just strolling around during a mission!" she scolded, reminding him of Erza a little and he winced.

"I'm… I'm kind of… done with the mission actually…" he said somewhat sadly, hiding his eyes.

"Really?" Shikari blinked. "Then why are you here? Magnolia is in the opposite direction," the girl mused aloud, pointing behind herself. Natsu didn't seem to know what to answer to that one. "Natsu-san… is something wrong?" the green-haired mage asked with evident concern in her deep brown eyes. Eyes so much like…

"Nah, I'm ok!" the Salamander tried a fake smile, and tried to change the course of the conversation, "Hey, what cha got there?" he asked pointing to the basket in the girl's hands.

"Huh? Oh that, that's just food!" she picked the basked up a bit higher so Natsu could see better.

"Mushrooms?" Natsu frowned. "Who would eat that?" he pouted.

Shikari just gasped. "Natsu-san, you don't like mushrooms?"

"I don't know," he said seriously, crossing his arms, "are they tasty?"

Shikari just sweatdropped, and then grabbed his hand drawing him somewhere to the North.

"Hey, Shikari what are you doing?"

"I'm taking you with me to our guild, since you have no plans whatsoever and don't plan to return to Magnolia for a while as I understand, I might as well treat you to mushrooms!" the girl chirped happily smiling as she ran.

Natsu smiled as well. _'Thanks, Shikari.'_

A FEW MOMENTS LATER

"Whoa! It's the Salamander of Fairy Tail!"

"It's Natsu Dragneel!"

"The famous Fire Dragon Slayer in our guild! This is so cool!"

"I told you I wasn't lying!" Shikari poked her tongue out at the other Purple Lotus guild members, while Natsu didn't pay much attention to anything, munching on his mushroom-meal.

"Fis is ery ood, Fikari!" the pink-haired mage said rather loudly with full mouth, then gulped and added. "I never thought that something either than meat, could taste… well like meat!" he exclaimed joyfully.

The purple-haired girl beside him just giggled, blushing a little being complimented on her cooking. Meanwhile Natsu noticed that he was being literally stared at.

"D-D-ragneel-san…" a scrawny purple-haired mage began stuttering, approaching the Salamander with what seemed to be a notebook and a pen.

"Huh?" Natsu blinked putting another mushroom in his mouth.

"C-Can I please have your autograph?" he finally spat out and almost fainted.

"An autograph?" Natsu repeated. "Sure thing," he said cheerfully. "What's an autograph by the way?" he asked Shikari. The girl's eyes widened a bit and then she burst out laughing, along with the other guild members. "Huh? Did I say something funny?" the laughter increased, but Shikari just smiled and hugged Natsu on the arm looking him in the eyes with childish cheerfulness.

"Now I know why they love you so much at Fairy Tail. You're not just strong, you're also very funny!" she grinned and then whispered into his ear, so that he wouldn't get embarrassed: "An autograph is when you put your signature on an admirer's sheet of paper, in case you didn't know, Natsu-san."

Natsu signed in the notebook but his thoughts were very far away. _'Fairy Tail, huh…'_

"You know," Natsu confessed with a sad smile, "I caused a lot of trouble at Fairy Tail actually, so they're pretty mad at me right now."

"Trouble? What kind?"

"Well, I… broke some tables and benches and… well I almost destroyed the entire guild bar in a reckless fight…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"In a fight… that is sooo cool!" someone whispered from afar.

"Huh? Why would it be cool?" Natsu asked surprised.

Shikari just chuckled. "You see, Natsu-san, in our guild we do not have as much powers as you do. But most of us are a bit clumsy, so we end up breaking things constantly, but not through fights, but just because of being inattentive," she shrugged. "We only take up easy missions and seldom get in a fight…" she mused sadly. "So to us, you're a real hero!" she smiled at the pink-haired mage before her.

"A real hero you say…"

Shikari nodded and smiled.

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"So you say he went to the East?" Erza asked again rushing through the forest with Gray by her side.

"Yeah," the ice-mage confirmed. "At least that's what the old man at the inn told me."

"Then we'll be able to catch up with him at this speed in no time," she said enthusiastically, but winced in pain as her abdomen awarded her with another painful sting.

"Erza, slow down!" Gray urged. "Your wound is not completely healed yet and you still didn't drink the healing potion."

"My physical state isn't our top priority now, we have to find Natsu!" the female mage exclaimed without looking at Gray, and he didn't push it any further.

'_Natsu… Natsu! NATSU!'_ was the only thought reoccurring in Erza's mind, while she pushed past her limits to reach to him.

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"So what's so great about this guy?" Natsu scratched his chin looking on the painting on the wall of the Purple Lotus guild.

"It's our Master, Kiken-sama!" Shikari exclaimed happily with glittering eyes, pointing her little finger on the tall figure of a male mage with golden hair and dark-blue eyes. The cape on the mages shoulders somewhat reminded Natsu of Laxus, but apart from that there was no similarity between the men. Sure the colour of their hair and eyes was the same, but there was no scar on Kiken's face + he head really wide eyes and his hair was much longer that Laxuse's. "He's very kind and caring!" Shikari exclaimed happily. "And he's also very strong! Kiken-sama said that if we follow his lead and do what he says we'll all be able to become strong and participate in various battles!" Shikari would have chattered on and on and on about her model, but the sound of opening doors caught everybody's attention. Even Natsu turned around to see who it was. The guild members gasped and bowed in admiration before the approaching figure.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" a male voice was heard to utter cheerfully.

"Welcome home, Kiken-sama!" the guild members said in unison, still bowing but each smiling a little, which surprised Natsu a bit. He wasn't bowing of course so the Salamander literally stood out among the rest.

"Well-well, I see we have a visitor today. And what a visitor it is! Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail!" the guild master said with a slightly mischievous smile on his lips. A smile that Natsu didn't like at all.


	7. Chapter 7: Reunion

**Chapter 7: Reunion**

Natsu frowned and looked a bit uneasy. Something inside him deeply protested against displaying respect in this particular kind of way. It seemed as though all the guild members including Shikari were in great awe of their master. Kiken… was it? Natsu couldn't care to remember. There was something deeply controversial about the man, who resembled Laxus a bit: he had big, almost huge childish-looking eyes, filled with angelic care and sincerity, yet he had this pointed nose and sharp chin which made him look rather cunning. Inwardly the Salamander wondered whether Shikari has noticed that, and opted for the negative answer. _'Something's not right about this guy… I just know it…'_ but if the pink-haired dragon slayer still had had any doubts as to Kiken's personality, they all vanished when the master approached him with a broad genuine, or so it seemed, smile on his face and stretched out his hand in greeting. _'This guy smells… _rotten_.'_

"Nice to meet you Natsu-san," the blonde spoke with his hand still in place.

The Fire Dragon Slayer just stood there eyeing the man suspiciously. He never actually considered the notions of being rude or not, his alert system was screaming like crazy inside of him, and that's no time to think about politeness. The next second Natsu could have and probably would have done or said something inappropriate and stupid, but Shikari pulled on the leg of his pants with a pout on her lips that instantly changed into a sort of questioningly-pleading stare. That made Natsu snap out of his tensed state and shake the offered hand.

"Erm… nice to meet you too, erm…" Natsu wasn't sure about the man's name, but Shikari helped him out, whispering _'Kiken-sama'_, and the tension faded.

"Have you showed our guest around the guild yet, Shikari?" the blonde asked smiling politely, which made the girl's check color.

"W-Well, n-no, I…" she stuttered fumbling with the hem of her T-shirt.

Natsu didn't like where and how this conversation was going, so he decided to end it as quick as possible, and at least make the guild master go to attend to whatever business he had, so that the other guild members would snap out of their hypnotized state and stand straight already!

"Shikari here was just starting to show me around," the Salamander put his hand on the girl's shoulder to steady her nervous shivering. "She began with your portrait over there," and the boy motioned to the said object.

"Oh, I see," he Kiken nodded with a smile, "still I suppose there are still more important things to show to our famous guest, aren't there, Shikari?"

"H-hai, Kiken-sama! I will show Natsu-san around!" was the devoted answer.

"Good," the master answered and Natsu noticed this pointed look, this sharp and vicious glance of the man in front to f him and felt this rotten smell again, though this time it came not only from the entire body of the blonde man, but seemed to be centered somewhere to his right side. Natsu looked to where his senses were telling him, but couldn't see anything particular because the black cape was covering both sides of the man's posture as it hung loosely around him. "I'll arrange a feast to be prepared to honour such an import guest in the meantime, so you should take your time, Shikari. I'll sent for both of you when _the time comes_," was the only thing he said before casually strolling to the upper floor without ever minding to excuse himself or something. And it was right then when Kiken went up the stairs, that his cape billowed slightly behind him and Natsu caught sight of something long and glittering at his right side, exactly where the rotten smell from before seemed to be concentrated in.

'_That thing… is evil.'_ The pink-haired Dragon Slayer thought with a serious expression on his face, before Shikari grabbed his hand and dragged the boy outside.

A surge of uncontrollable laughter emerged from Kiken's mouth as he entered his small study on the second floor. His eyes grew wide while the pupils shrunk and the azure colour of his iris dangerously darkened. He couldn't believe his luck! The Salamander, the infamous Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail shows up in the middle of nowhere where he tried to hide his so-called guild, while sucking out their magical powers.

"This is wonderful! Just wonderful!" he cried, stretching out his hands as if gripping the entire world. "Now with the weakling Iyashii out of the way thanks to Erza, the Titania, and thanks to the powers I shall obtain from the Salamander I will finally be able to get rid of Cho and hold all three containers in my very arms!" he burst out laughing triumphantly again. "I wonder," the blonde mused aloud while approaching yet another, but this time smaller portrait of himself and taking it down, "had the mighty Titania figured out that Iyashii had already been worn out by another battle," Kiken opened a secret door behind the portrait revealing a long silver container and smiled, "with me?" and in that brief moment his face changed, and that cunning, malicious smile on his thin lips and the way he stroke the metal surface of the silver container would have made anyone's blood freeze right in their veins. "I've got to send Cho an invitation to today's 'party' and kill two birds with one spell," he chucked this time, trying to calm himself down before the big event.

"Hey-hey, Shakari! Hold it, will ya!" Natsu yelled trying to steady himself while the little girl literally dragged him after herself. "What's the hurry anyway? Shikari! Ouch!" the Fire Dragon Slayer exclaimed, when Shikari suddenly stopped, which made the boy trip and fall, hitting his nose.

The green-haired girl stood with a pout on her lips and looked Natsu straight in the eyes. Her pout changed with a frown and her stare was serious, as serious as those pretty brown eyes could show, which again reminded Natsu of…

"Tch," the fire-mage grunted and turned away from the little girl, avoiding eye contact.

She misinterpreted his actions, growing even angrier and stomped towards him, hands balled in little furious fists. "Natsu-san, you may be the best magician in the world! You may be the strongest Dragon Slayer there is! You may be the funniest guy I've ever met! But I cannot allow you to show disrespect to Kiken-sama like you just did!" she finally sobbed.

"Huh?" Natsu looked confused. He never meant to offend or hurt anyone's feelings, especially Shikari's, since she was so friendly, and funny, and looked so much like… The boy's eyes softened and he offered his new friend an apologetic look. "Sorry, if I did anything wrong. I just don't know what wrong did I do?" he questioned, scratching the back of his head.

"You forgot his name, twice! And you didn't bow when Kiken-sama arrived!" noticing signs of protest beginning to surge from Natsu's aura, Shikari hurried to explain herself. "It's not what you think! It's not like we're slaves or something! It's just… Kiken-sama… he…" her cheeks reddened and she looked at her feet again, "he did so much for me… For us! I mean for us! For the whole guild I mean!" she tried to correct herself and hide her feelings, which have been already betrayed by her words. Natsu didn't like what he saw. There was something very _very _wrong with the seemingly kind and caring guild master. Moreover he smelled _rotten_. And Shikari was relying on him, trusting him… and so were the rest. He just had to figure this out!

"Ne, Shikari, how 'bout you tell me about this Kiken-sama you're so fond of, while showing me, say… the training ground, maybe?" he smiled at the green-haired girl, while standing up.

Her face lit up immediately as if already forgetting all her offence from earlier.

'_Her mood changes instantly! First she's angry and then in the next second she's cheerful. And those brown eyes…'_ Natsu swallowed looking at Shikari who was telling him something to which he didn't listen.

"I kind of miss those eyes…" Natsu didn't notice saying it out loud.

"Huh?" Shikari stopped and looked at her new pink-haired friend in surprise blinking several times. "You miss _eyes_?" she asked for clearance.

Natsu just laughed sheepishly trying to change the subject, but failed miserably. This girl was persistent.

"If you don't tell me whose eyes you miss, I won't tell you about Kiken-sama!" the little water-mage crossed her arms and nodded twice as if agreeing with her own resolve, which made Natsu sweatdrop.

'_Are _all_ women really that stubborn?'_ he mused for a brief moment, but then returned to the present. He wondered if he should tell Shukari about Erza or not. Was this blonde Kiken guy really worth it? And then he looked at the little female mage before him and the thought of her being deceived by some old, well not really, but still, male mage made the pink-haired mage make up his mind. He'll help the girl before him. He'll figure this out. But first…

"There's not much to tell actually," Natsu said casually sitting down on a nearby log, no sheepish laughter, no avoiding the subject, no changing it either. Shikari looked at him with curiosity but said nothing as if afraid of ruining the spell of Natsu being serious, and you'll have to admit she was right about that, for such enlightment moments were rare for the boy, especially when he was not involved in some serious battle, where the lives of his friends were at stake. So she just sat silently next to him and listened attentively to whatever he had to say, while he looked somewhere to the horizon with his eyes slightly dulled. "There is one person… a girl… and well… I kind of started to realize that I miss her," he paused and received a sympathetic look from Shikari, afterwards he continued, "The reason that I miss her even more now s that," he looked at Shikari and smiled sadly, "your eyes are just like hers."

"Really?" Shikari gasped and blushed a little.

"Aa," Natsu nodded.

"She…" the green-haired girl decided to try the waters on this topic, "she must be really beautiful if you like her…" the girl studied the pink-haired boy's reaction attentively and was satisfied with a small smile.

"Aa, she is," he nodded and then remembered her and Gray together. Talking. They were just talking. That's it. But before that Erza was waiting… she was waiting for _him. _And they went to the inn together.

"Natsu-san?" Shikari asked concerned.

"Huh?" he blinked at her, no sign of the previous Natsu whatsoever. "Oh, my zoning out! That's Ok. I'm ok, don't worry!" he laughed and grinned at the girl again, who gave him a weak smile in return, still worrying about her friend. "Your turn now!" the Salamander demanded. "Tell me about this Kiken master of yours!"

And while showing the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail the meager training grounds of Purple Lotus, Shikari told him her story. She was an orphan and never really knew her parents. Until she was ten she lived with an old couple who couldn't have kids and adopter her for that reason, but they soon died and the girl was all alone, until one day Kiken found her and took her to travel with him. It appeared later that he was a mage and a master of Purple Lotus and kindly allowed her to join.

"I always knew I had magical powers, but I could never really use them before I met Kiken-sama," the girl confessed. "He taught me everything I know, and made me love who I am."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Shikari hid her face, "the old people I lived with were very nice and all that… But they said… they said that all mages are monsters… They said that they only cause pain and destruction, so I never used magic in front of them and was ashamed of who I am…" she finished quietly.

Natsu was already about to say something to comfort the saddened girl, when suddenly they heard a cry of pain from afar.

"Oh, no! It's Shuho!" Shikari panicked and rushed to her injured comrade with Natsu on toe.

"Shikari!" the black-haired man whispered, "Save yourself! Run! You have to… run! Shikari…"

The girl's eyes grew wide and filled with tears as she looked at the man in her arms. He had already lost his consciousness and looked dreadfully worn out. His few injuries constituted only a couple of bruises, but it seemed as though he was sucked out from the inside. And this sight of her comrade turned into a bag of bones made Shikari tremble all over.

"W-who c-could have d-done such a thing?" she cried out stuttering, as tears started to run down her pretty face. And suddenly a firm hand grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it.

"Let's go and find out," was Natsu's firm reply. And when Shikari looked up at the Salamander she saw the mage everyone feared so much. His eyes were burning, his free hand was turned into a clenched fist, his teeth were gritted.

'_He is truly the Salamander of Fairy Tail!'_ the water-mage thought in awe, before they took off towards the Purple Lotus Guild.

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"Erza!" Gray yelled concerned when his female teammate fell to the ground, wincing and clutching her abdomen in pain. "What the hell were you thinking driving yourself to this state! Why were you even running! Answer me, Erza!"

But the scarlet-haired mage just breathed in heavy short breaths and refused either to answer or to open her eyes.

"What's the use of me having stolen Porlyusica's healing potion for you if you don't even take it!" the ice-mage demanded holding the woman he loved in his arms and watching her suffer.

"You think she's going to forgive you for that!" Erza snapped irritated. "Do you really think that Master will cover you back for doing something so stupid and reckless? And even if he is, do you think that will help?" she spat, trying to stand up, but falling into Gray's arms again.

The boy's eyes grew wide. "It can't be…" he whispered. "Erza, you… you didn't take it, because you _knew? _You knew it all along and didn't take it, so that I won't get into trouble for stealing it?" the ice-mages heart took a hopeful leap. _'What if she feels the same about me? She cares so much, ten maybe…'_

"It will be of no use if you get punished because of me. No one is worth punishing because of me!" Erza said firmly, this time succeeding to stand up on her own shaky legs, with Gray supporting her.

'_Guess I was daydreaming there…'_ was the ice-mage's sad thought as he watched Erza's head suddenly snap into a different direction from where they were running to. Her eyes grew wide and she looked very worried. "Erza, what's…?"

"Over there!" she yelled, pointing to where she was looking. "We've got to go there!"

"But Erza, the old man said that Natsu went this way," was Gray's confused reply.

"It's Natsu…" the scarlet-haired mage whispered as if mishearing her teammate. "Natsu's there!" and with that she rushed to where her senses were telling her, forgetting about the mission, forgetting about her pain, forgetting about… Gray. She ran as fast a she could, never feeling the stitches of her wound start to separate, the only memory was fixed in her brain:

"_A friend told me once," and Natsu's smiling and then teary face flashed before her eyes, "you don't die for your friend__s__…__you live for them!" _

'_Hang on, Natsu!'_

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"What the hell happened here?" Natsu yelled with eyes bulging out, as he eyed the hall of the Purple Lotus guild. It looked like a zombie graveyard. The guild members were like ghouls, looking just like the man he and Shikari saw in the woods earlier, some looked even worse. Natsu heard the said green-haired mage shriek and turned around only to see that a corpse-like human being was beating in throes in front of her lying on the ground and drooling all over. "Shikari, get over here! Stay near me! You hear?" the Fire dragon Slayer grabbed the girl's hand and pulled the crying shocked water-mage closer to him, noticing that she was trembling all over. He gritted his teeth and growled. "Who did this! Show yourself!"

A thin, unpleasant female laugh was heard from above the stairs. "So you didn't lie about this! It really is Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander of Fairy Tail! Such a treat! Such a treat!" she exclaimed jumping down to meet her opponent, her long silver hair almost shining in the shadows and her light-blue eyes cold as ice.

Natsu was already about to respond when Shikari suddenly stopped trembling and stood in front of him boldly stretching her arms in front of the said mage to protect him. "I won't let you hurt, Natsu-san! You won't come near him, you villain!"

The silver-haired woman laughed again, her voice echoing in the ruins of the guild hall. But Natsu didn't notice it. The sight of Shikari with her thin arms stretched out in order to protect him, though she was scared, reminded him of…

"_Erza, what are you doing? Move!"_

"_Don't be afraid! I will protect you!"_

"What did you do to Kiken-sama, you witch?" Shikari shouted angrily with new tears gathering in her brown eyes.

The female gave another laugh. "Do to him? What did _I_ do to him? Ha-ha-ha! You poor silly child!" she grinned. "Kiken-sama, would you be so kind to show yourself now? I believe there is no point in hiding any longer."

Shikari's eyes grew wide, her mouth, her hands and her heart dropped. "It can't be…"

A blonde man with sapphire eyes, clad in a black cape emerged from the darkness on a black cloud. He wasn't smiling, but his eyes were cold and the thunders in his black cloud threw shadows that made his face look sinister and vile.

"It can't be…" Shikari repeated clawing at her hair out of despair, her knees trembling, eyes fixated on the changed personality of her dear guild master. "You… you're not Kiken-sama!" she cried in disbelief and gave out a loud sob.

"You," the blonde mage growled threateningly, "are of no use to me anymore."

Kiken stretched out his arms in the direction of the defenseless girl, who trusted him with her entire life, spread his pointed fingers and said: "Seven Wheels Absorption Technique!" and seven white claws swiftly pulled towards Shikari. The girl could only manage to cover her face in defense, when she felt like being lifted up.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Tch, how annoying!" the silver-haired mage grunted. "Steel-Make Spider Web!" and before he knew it, Natsu got caught in the trap, managing only to push Shikari out of it in time.

"You should have kept her right where she was, stupid Dragon Slayer," Kiken said maliciously while Cho laughed again in the background.

Natsu growled and tried to break free of the steel cage he got himself caught into, but noticed that with every move he made the steel strings were only getting tighter around him, prohibiting him from moving at all. "Shikari, watch out!" he yelled on top of his lungs as Kiken slowly approached the said girl, who was paralyzed with fear.

"This is the end, Shikari," he stated plainly, floating mere inches away from his victim. "I must say that your power was extremely tasty and extremely enormous! It took me the whole year to suck it little by little from you."

"Shikari! Run! Run for it! RUN! Shit!" Natsu struggled to break free. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" he shouted in an attempt to melt the cage, and it started working.

"Why?" Shikari asked her former master almost pleadingly.

"Good bye, Shikari. Seven Wheels Absorption Technique!"

"SHIKARI!"

She was literally melting before his eyes. Seven white claws pierced her delicate body and started sucking out all of the life that was within her. Shikari grew thinner and thinner, and by the time Natsu was able to completely break free from the steel cage, the white claws had already disappeared and Shiraki fell to the ground as if in slow motion, her body but a feather.

Reaching out, the pink-haired Dragon Slayer caught the girl. "Hang in there, Shikari! Hang in there!" but no answer came. Though the girl's brown eyes were open they were empty and showed completely no emotion. This sight made very cell of his body burn and ache with anger. His thoughts disappeared somewhere and only pure rage replaced them. "She trusted you with her life…" he whispered standing up, after placing Shikari on the ground. "And you betrayed her."

"Steel-Make Lance!" Cho ordered and sharp lances flew at Natsu, which he easily dodged.

"Seven Wheels Net!" Kiken commanded, but Natsu wasn't that stupid to fall into the same trap again.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" and the flames cut the white net in mid flight. "Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" he aimed straight at Kiken, when Cho swiftly appeared from behind and before Natsu's fist could connect with Kiken's jaw…

"Steel-Make Dagger!"

"Ice-Make Shield!" and the dagger only connected with ice and couldn't pierce through it.

"Trinity Shot!" Erza's blades pierced Cho from behind pinning her to the wall.

"Erza? Gray?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Covering your fiery ass as always! Now beat the guy already!"

"Here I go!" and Natsu landed a heavy punch on Kiken's jaw and sent him flying straight across the hall.

After the noise from the loud cracking ceased and the dust from the wreckage settled, Natsu turned around only to see… Erza in her Heaven Wheel Armour, shining in the light from the guild entrance! And Gray…

"The hell were you doing running away from the guild, huh, torch!" the ice-mage demanded stepping closer to his rival, who was already about to respond when…

"Natsu!" a firm female voice was heard as Erza made her way towards the Dragon Slayer.

"Erza…" he muttered somewhat apologetically, seeing her knitted eyebrows and the serious expression on her face.

"Don't even try to defend yourself, Natsu Dragneel!" she approached him and then smiled putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're coming home with us. Everyone misses you," and Natsu's heart quickened when she said: "I've missed you."

The world seemed to stop turning. Everything seemed to cease to exist. There was only him looking at her. And she was smiling. Smiling at _him. _Admitting she had missed _him_.

"So touching, Titania," a hard blow landed on Erza's neck and she flew across the room, landing against the wall.

"ERZA!" Natsu yelled outraged and looked back at Kiken. The white pointed fingers that hit Erza were now moving back to their master, who was standing up, whipping his lips from blood.

"I'll take care of her!" Gray tried to reassure his friend, but suddenly understood that he couldn't move. "What the…?" the ice-mage looked down only to see his feet stuck in something that looked like tar, but in reality wasn't.

"Titania's swords sure are good to melt," Cho said standing straight with no swords binding her anymore.

"Did you really think…" Kiken chuckled, "did you really think you could beat ME?" he yelled. "Beat me when I have THIS?" and he held out a silver container and human voices were heard to reach from that vessel.

"Kiken-sama, isn't it too early…?" Cho asked in awe.

"Shut up and know your place!" he demanded, and the woman bit her lip.

"You know," Natsu growled, "I will enjoy beating the crap out of a scum like you, who treats even women like garbage!" and the fire Dragon Slayer launched another attack on his enemy. "Fire Dragon's Claw!"

"Seven Wheels Absorption Technique!" and the white fingers did their job jet again, they completely absorbed Natsu's flames. "White Light: Thunder Storm!" and hundreds of lightings were directed straight into the fire-mages body.

'_Someone's screaming. Someone is screaming very loud. He's in pain. I know that voice!'_ Erza tried to open her eyes and could only open them a little, but it was wide enough to see Natsu screaming in a flow of white light and Gray defending himself with ice-make shield from the ferocious attacks of the silver-haired female. For a brief moment Erza wondered why he wouldn't move and launch a counterthrust, but then noticed that his legs were covered with something up to the knees. But the female's attention shifted back to Natsu who was lying on the ground, smoke covering his body. _'Natsu!' _The weapon mistress tried to stand up, but stopped immediately and winced at the sudden newly discovered pain in her abdomen. The last punch that sent her connecting with the wall was probably the last straw for her wound and it got open again. Erza felt fresh blood emerge from the cut with every move she attempted to make. Still, she never gave up and continued to struggle her way up.

"Natsu, you ok? Natsu!"

"You opponent is in front of you, Fullbuster!" Cho yelled. "Don't get distracted. Or else… Steel-Make: Hammer!" she yelled again and everything went black in Gray's eyes.

"_Erza's really scary…" a small pink-haired boy mused seriously._

"_You don't know the first thing about her, torch!" another small boy with dark-blue eyes huffed._

"_Yes I do!" the pink-haired one demanded. "The first thing about Erza is that she's scary!"_

"_Nope, you're wrong!" the black-haired boy yelled and caused his opponent to look quizzically at him and then smile mischievously. _

"_You LI-IKE her!" he purred._

"_N-no, I don't!"_

"_You like Erza! Oh my God!"_

"_You're wrong! You're wrong!"_

"Erza…" Natsu whispered opening his eyes, as the memory slowly started to fade.

"Die, Dragneel, and give your powers to me!" Kiken whispered, as white claws made their way towards the Dragon Slayer.

"Erza…"

"_I'll protect you, Natsu!" _he remembered her say, and was already about to jump to his feet when a flash of red appeared before his eyes and he saw Erza with outstretched arms again… before him… with greedy fingers eating away her magical powers and her life… and blood… there was a trace of blood from where she came.

"Erza…" Natsu whispered in disbelief.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you!" she said in a hoarse voice and in that moment something inside his head snapped.

Standing up, Natsu commanded: "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" and separated Kiken and his greedy claws from Erza and managed to catch her as she fell.

"I'm glad… you're ok…" she whispered before losing consciousness.

"You hurt Erza… you hurt Shikari… you betrayed your guild. From where I come from you get your ass kicked for that!" and with that the Salamander started launching numerous attacks at both Cho and Kiken.

"Impossible!" Cho yelled.

"He can't be that strong!" Kiken shouted, opening his container, when…

"This is the end, bastard!" and with that said with her very last effort Erza cut the container in two making all the energy flow away from it back to its respective owners.

"NO!" Kiken shouted. "The work of my life! Of my entire life! YOU RUINED IT!" he snatched out her sword and aimed at the Titania.

'_I guess this is the end… I'm glad I had a chance to see Natsu again…'_ and she closed her eyes anticipating the end. Erza felt warm droplets of blood on her face, but no pain came. The girl opened her eyes and gasped. Facing her and backing Kiken was Natsu Dragneel with a sword piercing him right through the middle. Blood was dripping from the blade and from the corner of his smiling lips as he said:

"Don't worry, Erza. I'll protect you…"

He fell forward and crying out his name with tears streaming down her face, Erza caught him and stroke his cheek while her tears washed away the blood on his handsome face. She never even noticed that the guild members returned to normal and led by an extremely powerful water-mage which Erza never cared to look at defeated the remains of "The Three Siblings", tied them up and started asking questions. She just sat there and looked at him…

"Please, don't die!" she whispered crying. "Don't you dare to die on my arms, Natsu!" and then it hit her. Erza took out the green flask and with no hesitation whatsoever poured it all into Natsu's mouth. "Drink it! Drink it, come on!" and she hugged him sobbing against his chest. "Please just live… Live, Natsu!" she shouted to his chest and suddenly heard a 'thump'. The scarlet-haired girl gasped and tired to raise her head in order to look Natsu in the face, but she felt his right hand press her lightly to him. Then his left hand did the same.

"Erza…" he whispered against her hair, "… I will live as long as you want me to. Because that's what we do in Fairy Tail – we live for each other. And I have chosen to live for you."

It was then that Natsu let Erza look him in the eyes and see that he wasn't joking. Content that he was ok, she let the fatigue and blood loss get the best of her and faded into nothingness with a smile on her lips. The only thing she saw was Natsu's wide eyes, his worried and shocked face, and the only thing she didn't see was Gray's defeated look.

**Finally it happened! Sorry for the long waiting! Hope this met your expectations, if not I'm really sorry… This is how I saw things in my head, though. So read and review! I sure hope to be done with the (probably) last chapter of this fic sooner then it took me to write this one. Anyway, hope you enjoy and correct my mistakes =)**


	8. Chapter 8: The Bet

**Chapter 8: The Bet**

Her eyelids were leaden, her stomach was sore, her throat was dry and her limbs were numb. Feeling all of this misery Erza tried to wince but failed at that, she tried to open her eyes but in spite of the bright warm, soothing sunlight against her skin, the Titania was unable to lift a finger. Birds were chirping outside in the trees. Erza assumed that it was a wonderful day! At least from what she could smell from the open window it was. The mighty Titania could only feel the soft cool breeze on her face, apart from that her body seemed totally numb. Erza would have grunted form annoyance or sighed in defeat, but neither of the above-mentioned options was possible in her current physical state.

'_I always clung to my life so desperately… I wanted to protect those dear to me, always! Then Natsu said that it won't make anybody happy, it will only make my friends sad. He asked me not to be so reckless… and yet… we have both done it again'_ she wondered in her slumbering. _'I hope he's ok…'_

And Erza was already about to drift away into healthy sleep again when she heard a short snore and something shift. Her body still felt numb, but from the sound of rustling the scarlet-haired girl assumed that the hospital bed linen was being crumpled from somewhere near her lap.

'_What the hell? If it's anyone but Lucy I'll punch his lights out!_' she mentally cursed as the door to her ward opened and someone entered in brisk steps.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled irritated. "I thought I told you to get some proper sleep at home! What are you still doing here?" the blonde demanded.

"Oh, hey, Luce…" the pink-haired Dragon Slayer said in a weary voice.

'_Natsu?' _

"Don't _'hey, Luce'_ me, Natsu!" the gate keeper insisted. "Out, out of this ward you hear me!" and so Lucy approached her teammate and urged him to stand up from the chair near Erza's hospital bed.

"Hey, Lucy, what's the rush?" he tried to laugh the whole matter off. "I'm fine here, see? Just keeping an eye on Erza, no big deal!"

Mentally Erza's eyes widened as she heard a slash. Silence followed and in several seconds was replaced with a sob.

"Natsu, please… It's been five days…"

'_Five days? I've been like this for five days?'_ Erza thought in awe.

"The doctors say that Erza may never…"

"The hell do I care what those bastards say!" Erza heard Natsu yell confidently. "Master believes she will recover! _I_ believe she will recover! Don't tell you have lost faith… of all the people…" Natsu snorted.

"You're wrong! I also believe that Erza's gonna be fine! But…" the blonde lowered her voice. "I know why you're doing this, Natsu…" he growled and Erza perked her ears. "You're punishing yourself when you shouldn't be… What happened to Erza… it's not your fault."

"Yes, it is," was the sad firm answer. "She could have used Porlyusica's potion to heal herself, instead she used it all on me…"

'_It was t save you, baka!'_

"It was to save you, baka!" both girls thought and said simultaneously.

"I was the one to save her!" Natsu shouted and silence fell. "I just…" the boy continued after a pause, "if I had stayed in the Guild and waited for Erza… she wouldn't have taken up that mission… and none of this would have happened…"

"Then it's my fault that I didn't let her follow you suit and didn't prohibit her from taking up that mission," a third voice joined in.

'_Master!'_

"Granps?" Natsu sounded surprised as well.

"Yo, Natsu, Lu-chan!" was the ever cheerful answer. Mentally Erza imagined Master's grinning face and wanted to smile herself but could only do it inwardly.

"This is no time to be in a good mood, Granps!" Natsu said irritated. "Erza hasn't recovered yet."

"Well…" the old man rubbed his chin. "I have a feeling that that's gonna change pretty soon. So why don't you two run along get the enslaved Gray and meet up at the guild bar in two hours or so! I promise to bring Erza up and about, and we'll celebrate her recovery!"

"WHOA?" Natsu gaped. "You can do that? Like for real, Granps?" was Natsu's excited reply.

"Master?" Lucy shot Makarov a quizzical look. "But the doctors…"

"Doctors-doctors, who the hell needs them when I'm around," Makarov said in a sort of a tongue twister manner, showing the two teammates out the door. "Off you go, children!"

"B-but, Master!" but Makarov has already slammed the door in the girl's face.

Erza's heartbeat immediately quickened as she heard the sound of gradually approaching footsteps. Then they ceased and she figured that the Master must have climbed onto the chair in her ward. Still he was silent, and the wave of anticipation of a quick treatment that began to surge inside of Erza's alien body suddenly fell flat. She was not feeling anticipation anymore. She was feeling anxiety. What if she were incurable? What if she were to die in these two hours? Was this the reason why Makarov sent Natsu and Lucy away?

"What have you gotten yourself into this time… child?" Makarov said sadly and put his old rough hand on her forehead. "Look at you all bruised like that…" he stroke her hair in a fatherly manner and Erza couldn't help but feel itching in her throat and nose. "I'm sorry I let it all happen to you…" the old man sighed. "But I'll make it all better now. I just hope those two brats aren't going to cause you any more trouble than they already did…" the guild master sighed. "That stupid bet! And I am a part of it…"

'_Bet?'_ Erza thought taken aback a bit. _'What do I have to do with a bet between the two… could it be Natsu and Gray? Well, yeah, sure, who else could it be,'_ the girl mentally rolled her eyes.

"But it's all gonna be ok now, since I got my healing potion on me!" the old man said in a cheerful voice. "You did I a good job helping Natsu out. He wouldn't have survived that injury…" on hearing that Erza's heart took a painful leap and the memory of the Fire Dragon Slayer's limp body in her arms flooded the girl's memory like an avalanche; for the second time this day she wanted to cry and hated her body for disobeying her cravings. "But you on the other hand went through so much more…" the guild master mused sadly. "I thought you were gonna make it through on your own, but the doctors… khmp… Well, never mind them now! Up you go!" Makarov commanded and Erza felt her head being lifted up and something press against her slightly parted lips.

As the liquid began to flow inside, Erza experienced something like a lightning stroke throughout her entire body. Her brown eyes instantly shot open only to see the smiling face of their guild master, and although he tried to hide it, but Erza could still see traces of tears in the corners of the old man's eyes.

"Yo, Erza-chan!" he grinned widely and stretched out his palm out in a greeting gesture.

"Master…" she whispered with a subtle smile on her face and could finally let her tears flow silently.

"There-there child!" Makarov soothed. "It's ok now," and the old man reached out to hug her shoulders to what Erza didn't object. "How are you?"

"I'm fine now, thanks to you, Master," she smiled a little bit calmed down. "It was awful to be trapped inside my own body, unable to move, to open my eyes, to sigh even!"

"Whoa?" Makarov gasped. "So you've been conscious all this time?"

"Well, not all this time. But I've been conscious enough to hear something about some sort of bet…"

"Haha! Well, it's kind of funny you see… erm…"

"Master!" Erza growled with suspiciously glinting eyes.

x-x-x Meanwhile (in the forests near Magnolia) x-x-x

"Crap! This work is killing me!" Gray complained sweat pouring in streams down his back and chest as he climbed yet another mountain in search of that goddamned water-petal wild lily for Porlyusica's new healing potion. It has been five days since the four of them returned to Fairy Tail: Erza, Natsu, himself and the weird girl called Shikari. It appeared that those Three Siblings were not blood relatives at all, but they did suck out the energy out of small guilds to make themselves more powerful and attack light guilds. Shikari herself appeared to be a skilled mage and everyone else in the guild got their powers back. Gray heard Natsu and Shikari have a conversation with Master on some matter, shortly after which the girl took her leave, promising to clear up everything concerning Erza's mission, since it was fulfilled anyway, no matter the consequences, but the client must have figured it out by himself already, for according to Erza his own youth had been trapped inside one of the containers and since all of them have been cut open and all the magical powers returned to their respective owners, the client himself should be satisfied with the result. No matter the cost. That thought stung him like a poisoned bee right in the temple and then buzzing with delight made its way to his chest and wound its stingers in the soft tissue of his heart. The cost was Erza's life.

Gray couldn't remember much of the fight. He couldn't remember what the bad guys were after and why Shikari returned with them. But he remembered Erza crying holding Natsu in her arms; he could remember how she yelled urging him to live; he remembered how Natsu held her in his arms with shock written across his face as the three of them rushed back home, although Gray would gladly forget all of it. The other thing he would gladly forget was Natsu's firm denial of him keeping an eye on Erza. He wanted to forget the sight of the pink-haired boy saying some jokes and offering food to the unconscious girl on the hospital bed, for sometimes Gray would sneak up on Natsu wondering if Erza's ward might be empty so that he could at least stay for the night and watch her, come close to her, be near her… But Natsu seemed never to leave her side. Gray even wondered if the man ever needed the restroom or anything, for he seemed to be glued to the chair in the scarlet-haired girl's room. This unbearable torment lasted for two days. Then it was rudely interrupted by… Porlyusica-san.

"Well, I see you are all healed by now," the woman stated plainly. "So you must be ready to suffer punishment proper for a thief."

Sometimes Gray wondered if anyone else's voice on the planet could sound colder that his own ice. Sure Erza was a match sometimes, but she was never really serious about her threats, she was mostly scaring them. But Porlyusia-san was serious as hell. Gray would know. For the last two days he had been planting some weird looking seeds all day long. The sadistic female mage gave him a sack of about 10 pounds of tiny seeds with hairy paws and long green tails to plant. Yep, he lost half of the sack in the process, was scolded, had to retrieve the escaped seeds and plant them, which he did. And now he had to find this crappy gigantic lily – the second out of 40 ingredients for the goddamned flask he had stolen for Erza which was used to save the torch. That last part was the most annoying one. Still Gray couldn't do anything about it. He lost the bet. He lost Erza (not that she had ever been his, but still) to Natsu. Nothing could change that. Just as nothing could change or erase his memory of that look in her eyes and her tears when she pleaded Natsu to live.

"Gray-sama!" a female voice yelled at the bottom of the cliff.

"Jubia?" Gray asked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Natsu and Lucy came to the guild bar recently, they said that Erza-san has finally recovered and that Master will come with her in two hours!" the girl shouted jubilantly.

Gray's eyes widened. "Erza… is fine?"

"Um!" Jubia nodded.

x-x-x Meanwhile x-x-x

"Natsu! NATSU!" Lucy shouted from behind the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Slow down, will you! I can't keep up!"

"Sorry, Luce, can't do!" he replied grinning widely. "I gotta go and tell everyone that Erza's coming round!"

"But we have already informed the entire guild! Who else do you want to share the news with?" the blonde cried out panting.

"The whole world!" he said somewhat dazed and Lucy had chills all over, thinking whether or not her friend had gotten mad from happiness. "But I can't do that, of course," he suddenly poked his tongue out at his teammate, "so Magnolia should do!"

"Whoa? Natsu, don't!" she tried to stop him, but he was faster.

Having reached the highest pole in the town, Natsu climbed onto it and inhaling as much air into his lungs as he could shouted: "Hey, everyone! Erza Scarlet, the top S-class mage of Fairy Tail is coming round! She's gonna be just fine now!"

People on the streets stopped, looked at the boy for some moments and then twisting their fingers at their temples went on to carry out their daily routines.

"Hey! What's that for a reaction? Didn't you just hear what I said?"

"Natsu! Natsu!" Lucy whispered from below. "Get your ass here right this moment! What do you think you're doing? Are you crazy or something?"

"But I just wanted to share the news…" he said with puppy eyes.

"Get. Down. Here. Now." Lucy hissed and Natsu obeyed in defeat.

"I don't get them…" the boy frowned.

"And I don't get you!" Lucy shouted.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Erza is our friend! OURS! Not their!" she pointed at the by passers. "They have no interest in our business unless it concerns their safety. And you… could it be…" Lucy wondered for a brief moment if she should bring the matter up or not, but then decided to take a shot. "Is this somehow connected to your bet with Gray?"

"Whoa! YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BET?" Natsu gaped at his blonde friend.

She didn't, but she bluffed. "Maybe."

'_Bingo!'_ Lucy thought. _'Now if I play along right, I might be able to find out about the whole business!' _the girl mentally grinned maliciously.

"How? Gray would never tell!" Natsu said in awe.

"Well, I remember Master telling something about it…" Lucy scratched her chin and raised her head up as if trying to remember something.

"Granps? I knew he couldn't be trusted…"

"So it is about the bet?" Lucy looked at the pink-haired boy and tried to hide the curiosity burning in her eyes.

"Aaa…" was the silent and serious reply.

Lucy had a worried expression on her face. He was so serious about this. It was so unlike Natsu. His facial expression was… well, even Lucy with her writing skills couldn't describe it. He was sad and not… it was like he was happy about some inner decision that he had made and unhappy at the same time, probably because of the same thing. That was probably the closest possible way to describe it.

The silence that fell between the two was making the celestial mage feel very uneasy, so she decided to say at least something.

"Um… so about Erza…" but the girl never got the chance to finish her phrase, because her mouth was immediately shut by Natsu's palm, although the girl never intended to go on with the whole bet-thing.

"You can't tell her! If she finds out… You can't tell Erza!" he whispered fiercely in the girls ear.

'_What?'_ Lucy was lucky to have said it mentally, because of Natsu's palm, because otherwise she would have betrayed her façade. _'Erza's not part of it? What the hell! I don't get it!' _but the girl nodded nonetheless and could gasp for air.

"Good," Natsu said reassured, but inwardly he thought: _'I've got to tell Erza about it! Cause if Lucy knows, she WILL know eventually… So I should tell her myself. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Oh, God, help with this!'_

"Erm… Natsu? You ok?" Lucy asked concerned about his daydreaming again.

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" he smiled. "Let's hurry up to the guild bar, or we'll miss Erza!" the boy grinned returning to his energetic self and earned a nod and a genuine smile of relief from Lucy.

x-x-x At the guild bar x-x-x

There were no colourful decorations, no balloons or fireworks, no flowers and expensive tablecloths, there was simply no time to decorate anything to celebrate Erza's return from the hospital. And that's why everyone was nervous. The only thing that could be properly prepared was a big poster which read: WE MISSED YOU, Erza! GLAD TO HAVE YOU WELL AGAIN! And well there was the cleaning again… Even though Natsu has been sitting by Erza's side 24/7, and Gray was working his ass off for Porlyusica, there was still Gajeel… and Jet with Droy… and Kana… and well, everybody else, so the difference in the destruction rate was pretty much insignificant. And Mirajane always pointed it out to those who caused it and blamed Natsu for being so reckless. She felt that she needed to teach them a lesson, for what they caused to happen, and partially blamed herself, because she also scolded their pink-haired pot of joy and added to his misery. And so they all stood and waited.

Everyone was growing sick with anticipation. Especially a certain ice and fire mage who stood at a considerable distance from one another but still occasionally glared daggers. Lucy and Juvia who stood near Natsu and Gray respectively eyed them carefully. _"It's not worth it, Gray." - "For you… maybe, but it has always been worth it for me."_ Lucy recalled their fight. Natsu's leaving the guild: _"It's no big deal, popsicle! Remember the deal? The bet is off if I leave the guild, right?" - "You wouldn't…" - "Let's just part as friends, ok?"_ and the last thing he said today: _"You can't tell her! If she finds out… You can't tell Erza!" _Lucy remembered Natsu saying.

'_Could it be..?'_ Lucy started to assume. _'That the two…'_ her eyes widened. _'No, freaking way!'_

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted as the doors opened with a creaking sound. At first it seemed that only Master was in the doorway, but then as the light cleared, everyone could see… Erza, the Titania. Her hair was shining in the light with that special warmth only she could have. Everyone started shouting and cheering, and Lucy and Levy even couldn't hold back their tears. Makarov gave everyone a thumbs-up, but it seemed that Erza herself was thinking about something different altogether. She was distracted, and received all the greetings of her fellow guild members with a sort of polite smile, while her eyes roamed the room in search of… bingo! The fierce mage stomped towards Natsu with a serious expression on her face, took him by the scarf without saying a word, then went over to Gray, grabbed him by the collar and dragged the two outside.

'Well, that was fast…' was all Gray thought.

'I am so dead…' was Natsu's last thought, before the three were outside.

Near the threshold Makarov cried anime-tears: "Sorry, boys… She forced it all out of me…"

And while everyone at the guild was confused and Makarov was a little worried about Natsu's and Gray's destiny, Erza dumped the two by the river as if they were bags of potatoes.

"Talk!" she ordered.

"Glad to have you well, Erza!" Natsu tried, but only made her even angrier.

"Not that! I want to know about the bet! Master told me… but he didn't tell me everything," she looked confused for a moment, but then regained her sense. "But he did tell me that you two had a bet involving me! Now, talk!" she almost threatened and both Natsu and Gray knew she was.

Seeing that his pink-haired friend turned white from fear, Gray was about to open his mouth and spit the whole story out, when suddenly…

"I don't remember giving you a day off."

"Porlyusica-san?" Erza said in surprise.

"I see, you're all well, Erza. I think I'll pay the old geezer a visit later and check how's my potion…" the old mage said and Gray already had the chills she was giving him again. "Now, Gray, you still have a lot of work to do. You have no time to waste. Water-petal lilies only blossom three days a year and today's the second day. So come on," and with that she turned to leave.

"I… er… Erza?" Gray shrugged his shoulders in defeat.

The red-haired sighed. "Go on. I guess this can wait till tomorrow," and she herself was about to turn around, when she felt someone grab her hand.

"No."

"N-Natsu, wha..?"

"No, this can't wait till tomorrow, Erza!" the Salamander said firmly looking Erza right in the eyes, while Gray silently left without turning around.

"Ok," she blinked several times and then looked questioningly at their interlocked hands. Natsu caught her glance and let go of her hand slightly blushing as was she.

"S-sorry, about that…" he said silently.

They were averting their eyes from one another, until the situation became too awkward._ 'What the hell! I'm not supposed to feel awkward! I'm supposed to be pissed! The two bastards bet on me and I don't even know why!' _The thought made Erza snap out of it and look at Natsu sternly yet again.

"You… erm… were about to tell me about the bet," she finally said and saw Natsu wince, somehow it pained her, but she needed to know. She found out she had deep feelings for the reckless idiot, she needed to know! "Natsu," she urged quietly.

"You better sit down."

Flashback

"Torch!"

"Popsicle!"

"Fire-ball!"

"Pervert!"

The two boys were fighting tooth and nail yet again for no reason as always. They were about eleven years old, so they could already bruise one another, so they went to the river bank, so that no one could stop their recklessness.

"I'm gonna punch your lights out! See the irony, torch? Haha!" Gray shouted lunching an attack wearing only his dark blue underwear.

"I don't know who's Irony, but I see you and I'm ready!" Natsu cried balling his fist.

"Enough!" and with a sudden flash of red, there she was between them – Erza, the Scary Girl with the Braid. "Seriously, don't you ever get tired of this?" she scolded, while the two of them set on the ground stroking their cheeks from the collision with Erza's palms.

"Erza!" Levy cried from afar. "Elfman is challenging Wakaba again!"

"Tch!" the girl grunted. "I'm coming, Levy!" then she turned to the duo before her. "Now you two behave!" she pointed her finger at them as if being a school teacher (the role she would have definitely been one of the beat at), and marched off to stop another silly fight.

As soon as the girl was far out of earshot…

"Stupid Erza!" Natsu grunted.

"You're one to talk," Gray snorted.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, pervert?"

"Oh, you wanna fight again, huh?"

"N-no… not now…" Natsu whispered.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Erza. She could be nearby. She's sooo scary…"

"No she's not." Gray protested.

"Huh?" Natsu's eyes widened.

"I-I… I mean her character is scary, but… she…" he stumbled on the words.

Natsu's eyes grew wide as saucers and then shrunk and gave way to a vicious smile and a Happy-like conclusion: "You liiiiike her."

"No I don't!" the ice mage protested, but his red cheeks betrayed his emotions.

"Oh, my gosh!" Natsu exclaimed seeing proof of his thought. "You DO like her!"

"I don't! I don't!"

"Gray likes Erza! Gray likes Erza! Graif…." He was silenced by the brunette's palm.

"Shut up, you idiot! If she hears this I'm so dead!"

'_So if Erza finds out about Gray's feelings, he's gonna get it? But if she doesn't, he's gonna be nervous, he's gonna suffer!'_ Natsu thought, a plan forming in his mind. The boy motioned for his friend to let him go, which Gray reluctantly did.

"Let's have a deal!" the pink-haired boy suggested.

"What deal?"

"If you beat me, you get to ask Erza out on a date!"

"Whoa?"

'_Good,'_ Natsu thought, _'now he'll be reluctant to win! Hehe!'_

"But if I win…" Natsu held a pause to make his statement more dramatic, "I'll ask her out!"

Gray dropped his jaw. This was the stupidest deal in the world.

'_But he's so afraid of Erza that he'll choose not to win!'_ Gray thought. _'This is too confusing!'_ the boy ruffled his hair.

"So what do you say, popsicle?" Natsu asked stretching out his hand. "Bet, or I'm telling everyone you like Erza," he grinned maliciously again. "Or should I go ask Erza out, and steal her from you, boooo…" he teased and it worked.

"The hell you will!" the ice mage shook his friend's hand, and only then realized what he had just said. "If you let it slip to anyone, just anyone, I'll…"

"Chill, popsicle," Natsu reassured. "I'm not telling. There's just one more thing…"

"What?"

"The deal will be cancelled on one condition then."

"Huh, what condition?"

"If I win but leave the guild, everything will be cancelled."

"Whoa! But you will NEVER leave the guild, torch!"

"My point exactly, popsicle!" Natsu said grinning and poking out his tongue at Gray.

Gray just sighed. "You don't make any sense, you know that?"

"Who cares, until it's fun?" the boy smiled and Gray smiled in return. "Now, where do we find someone to break it?" he wondered aloud looking around only to see Master Makarov strolling a few hundred meters away.

End of flashback

"Of course Master wouldn't break the bet until we told him what the deal was, so we did…" Natsu said ending his story.

To say Erza was shocked was to say nothing. She was outraged and confused… but more than that she was pissed. How dare they bet on each other's feelings? How dare they bet on her? Did she have no right to choose for herself?

"How could have Gray gotten into this?" she mused aloud in a whisper.

"What did you say?"

Natsu's voice brought her back to reality and it was going to be a painful reality for one pink-haired mage.

"Your arrogance has no limit, has it?" she snapped.

"Erza… I…"

"I mean I understand Gray's reasoning now, but you…" she said with pain in her voice, she cared for him so much, and he… "Why?"

Natsu braced himself. It was time to tell her the truth. "At the beginning I just didn't want Gray near you…" he wondered if he should tell her why exactly, but then opted for 'honesty is the best policy', hell, he was going to get it today, might as well spit out everything, "…because I thought that he shouldn't be with you… 'cuz you're scary and all that…"

"So that's it?" she interrupted him. "I should have known," Erza stood up from the grass and was about to yell at her teammate, when he also stood up and held her shoulders.

"Why don't you ever let me finish? I'm not done!" he was getting angry himself.

"Because I already know what you're going to say!" she retorted. _'That's it, big scary Erza. Who can fall for her? Who can dare to admit his feelings? She'll kill them! Stupid men!'_

"No you don't!" he shouted.

"Yes, I do!" she yelled, trying to break free.

"Erza, I love you!"

Silence. Dead silence. He was serious. She was surprised. She was no longer trying to break free, but he was still holding her.

"At the beginning I didn't want Gray near you, because I thought he won't be happy with you. But then I didn't want him with you, because…" he leaned in and hugged the wax girl, whispering into her ear "…I wanted you for myself," he felt her shrug and stiffen. "I left the guild, because… I felt I was unfair to Gray… I mean, no matter how childish it sounds, he loved you first, but then… I couldn't stop thinking of you," she shuddered again. "I saw you with Gray at the inn…" Erza gasped. "I thought it was best for you to be together, but then you came to save me and… I'm so selfish… but I couldn't let him have you, I'm sorry… if you choose him, I'll understand, just please…" he snuggled even closer to her, "…don't cast me away."

The world stopped. The time stopped. It even seemed to Erza that her heart stopped. Tears were biting at her eyes, nose and throat. She wondered if all of this was a dream. Erza even wanted to pinch herself, but then thought that she never wanted to wake up. So she brought her hands up to hug the pink-haired lad back.

"Natsu… I love you too," she whispered, and the next thing she knew, he pulled her away wide-eyed clutching her shoulders.

"Y-you do?" he yelled surprised.

Erza didn't quite know what to say, so she simply said. "Yes!"

Shock was replaced with a wide grin. "Then I can ask you out, right?"

"You can try," she teased.

They both laughed. It was a warm comfortable laughter. And when Erza agreed to go out with him, Natsu tried his luck for the last time that day.

"Then I can kiss you, right?"

Erza's cheeks flashed red. "Y-you can try."

And he did.

**THE END**

**So sorry for keeping you waiting! I won't try excuses, they're lame and unnecessary. Apologies are necessary, so I'M SORRY FOR KEEPING YOU WAITING SO LONG! There, that's better)) I'll probably also make some corrections to Chapter 7… but maybe not… although I should, still this is the final chapter, and I hope it had some expected romance.**


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